ManageYourEmotionsBook8.5x5.5_RevJULY.indd

and dull.To the bored person, the world is all shades of grey.” 67 As we engage in battle against this seemingly harmless yet sneakily debilitating emotion, note first the reasons for boredom. Though there are certainly scores of them, I’ll zero in on the follow- ing two. Too much stimulation . Television, radio, movies, video games, social media, computers, and cell phones hype us up to such a point that we are becoming increasingly distracted. Ironically, this ends up increasing our boredom problem.Why? Because upon experiencing all this entertainment driven stimulation, dopamine, a chemical messenger that gives us that feel good feeling, is released into the brain. Ironically, constant exposure actually reduces dopa- mine production and when supply can’t meet our craving, boredom ensues. This issue of boredom is a relatively new phenomenon. In fact, the word “boredom” wasn’t introduced into the English lan- guage until 1766. 68 And though it’s hard to find specific Scripture on the subject, this challenge from Paul to his son in the ministry, written near the end of his life, certainly applies: “Flee from youth- ful lusts and pursue righteousness, faith, love and peace” (2Timothy 2:22). We tend to think of lust here only in a sexual connotation, when it actually applies to anything that triggers carnality and draws our hearts away from God.As it turns out, all this fun we’re having in our United States of Amusement has only served to increase the boredom it was designed to eliminate. Too little commitment. While our consumption of media continues to increase, our commitment level to issues that matter most, particularly those related to faith, has decreased; and, as com- mitment diminishes, boredom grows. According to Scripture, “Where there is no vision, the people perish” (Proverbs 29:18, KJV).The word for perish in the original language can also mean to ignore, avoid, and neglect.

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