I have been meaning to reply to this post. I can relate to the message in the article, and in fact have, over the years, sort of plodded along the same roads mentioned in the article. I didn't find these roads myself necessarily, but by reading a bunch of books that addressed the issues of "stress", or "finding a purpose"...various trendy, at the time, "self-help" books that I purchased while in airports.
Anyway, not long ago, a friend of mine who was approaching retirement asked me if I ever got bored in my retirement. I said "yes", and I recommended he learn to make friends with a certain degree of boredom.
I relate it to Hans Selye's discourses on the difference between "stress" and "distress".
He was in a high stress, high demand, 60 hour/week job. He even experienced the occasional self-described "panic attack".
So the first job with boredom is to try to recognize whether or not you are "bored" or just not used to having your brain red-lined on the stress-o-meter. Take a chill. Do some breathing. Try to enjoy the moment.
I am a retired dentist, and that job comes with some stress.
What I find helps with "boredom"... a "to do " list. Mine, not my wife's "honey-do" list.
Mindful, meditative breathing.
And of course, what I jokingly refer to when talking to my kids, "my active seniors lifestyle"...Golf, Pickle, Swimming, Socializing etc etc etc.
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