On Becoming Bored With Work

“I thank God each morning, that I can get on the bus and go to work.” Thus a recent thoughtful visitor, explained his blessings with this simple sentence.

Simple as it is, or at least simple as it sometimes seems, to have constructive work to do and health enough and strength enough to do it, is one of the greatest blessings of life. And should we ever doubt it, we need only see someone who hasn’t work or who hasn’t his health.

Sometimes we might wish we had work we liked better. But sometimes the solution to this is to learn to like better the work we have, to learn to enjoy what we are doing or must do.

Frequently, we hear young people express themselves as being weary of some assignment, perhaps some course at school, or practicing on the piano, or learning the “times tables,” or learning to type, or some other routine task. They complain that such things become boring. But almost anything can become boring⎯even some things that seem fascinating at first. Almost any boy, for example, would like to run a power mower⎯for a few minutes, but not to keep at it hour after hour, day after day.

Even so-called thrills can become boring. Life itself can become boring⎯if we let it. But we can’t always go from thrill to thrill. We can’t always go from excitement to more and more excitement, to the more and more spectacular, to the more and more extravagant. We can’t limitlessly add more and more spice to give an ever added edge to the flavor of food. There is a limit to the amount of spice that can be put in without completely forfeiting the natural flavor. Besides, the human constitution can’t constantly and increasingly take it.

And so it is with living, and so it is with work: It is wonderfully rewarding to learn to enjoy the work we have, at least until we find what we like better. It is wonderfully rewarding to learn to like what we must or should do (as well as what we think we would like to do)⎯to learn to enjoy the simple, the solid, the sustaining things⎯home and life and loved ones, and the wholesome things around us, and not become bored with our blessings.