HERE'S SOME GREAT ADVICE: "DARE TO BE BORING!"

"Exacerbated by the deluge of social media updates shared by most of us these days—unlike any other time in recorded history—the pressure to lead an engaging and stimulating life is well and truly on" writes Tilly Campbell-Allen in an essay titled "Dare To Be Boring:  Advice For A Life Well Lived."

Here are some of her insights followed by my brief lesson application:

• Social media clearly makes us feel uninteresting compared to others.  "From a night out on the town with your best friends to a solitary asana on a mountain top overlooking an idyllic valley; from swimming with wild turtles in the limpid coves of Maui to riding white water rapids in Norway; from volunteering with big cats in a South African sanctuary to champagne dining at Le Jules Verne in Paris.  And the catalogue of bucket list images grows exponentially on a daily basis as travelers Instagram their latest adventures."  The lesson: don't compare what's someone posts about their exterior lives to your interior life
• We are never enough.  "Are you spiritual enough? Are you practiced enough? Are you vegan enough? Are you retreated enough? Are you guru-connected enough? Are you enlightened enough?! " The lesson:  don't succumb to the temptation of spiritual materialism, buying and chasing experiences.
  

She concludes her essay with this powerful insight:  "Being bored is a privilege denied many in this world. This is the permission we can give ourselves, without apology, to be as boring as we feel comfortable being. Regardless of how busy our life is. Boring is the emotional and physical downtime we may actually need."