Things you never get bored of

February 3, 2014 by Joshua
in Awareness, Evolutionary Psychology, Nature

Today’s post is on awareness–to note something about yourself you may not have noticed.

You know how if you listen to a song too much you get bored of it, no matter how much you loved it at first? Or if you spend too much time with someone you need time away from them?

I noticed a few things I never get bored of. It’s not the biggest insight into humanity ever, but I think it helps you understand yourself better, especially my priorities, which helps me simplify my life and so no to good things to make way for great things.

I noticed though I eat nearly the same breakfast every day–oatmeal with fresh fruit and nuts, usually with chia seeds sprinkled in–I never get bored of it, even though the two main ingredients, water and oats, have little flavor. Fruits and nuts never got boring. If you try to eat ten apples in a row, you’ll stop wanting them, but I’m not talking about extremes.

An apple a day, or a few fruits or nuts a day never get boring. Food you like doesn’t get boring. I think evolution caused that. If we got bored of healthy things, we might die. By contrast, things you get bored of might not be that healthy. Supermarkets have aisles filled with cereals appearing to give variety in the hundreds of brands, most of which change monthly. I put to you that you’ll get bored of all those cereals faster than you’ll get bored of a few types of fruit and nuts. See my post “Variety, choice, the manufactured illusion of it, and creating more yourself,” for related thoughts and relevant pictures.

An interesting exercise is to list things you never get bored of. I bet the more of those things you have in your life, the more you’ll like your life. By contrast, things you get bored of, especially where markets formed to offer huge varieties and novelties, I suggest don’t lead you to enjoy your life more.

  • Fruit and nuts
  • Taking a deep breath of fresh air
  • A cool glass of water
  • Warm showers (despite my cold shower exercise)
  • Spending time with friends
  • Laughing
  • Massages

These things seem worth valuing.

How much do you replace them with short-term novelty? How much do you replace short-term novelty with them?

How much can you add to this list?

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