A Non-Boring Article on How to Kill Boredom

Boredom is something most people deal with at some time in their life.  It usually begins with a lot of excess time and can actually ADD to the stress in your life.  What to do? Where to go? How to plan? All these things can leave anyone in a state where they don't know if they should do anything and when/where to do it.  Boredom seems to start in childhood.  Children have lots of time to find things to do.  How creative they are in spending their time many times determines how bored they are as a child.  Young adults also face boredom.  This is usually remedied by reading, getting into a TV or movie, or spending time with others in their age group.   This article will try to diagnose the cause and list some ways that will help anyone avoid being bored on a continual basis.

The Causes of Boredom

I've come to the conclusion that most types of boredom are caused by one of three issues. Here they are:

1.  No Goals Set

This is the number one reason people get bored in my understanding. Without a goal - whether it be graduate college, beat a video game,  achieve a certification, or get married and have a family - many people just don't know where to go because they have nothing to aim for.  Goal setting is essential if you want to avoid boredom.  It is this first step that allows you to set mini-achievements to reach your goal that will kill boredom in your life.

2. Goals Are Set but No Progress Toward Them

This occurs when someone sets out to make goals but either makes them too long-term, or doesn't seek small enough mini-achievements to reach them.  Then this will develop into some great goals on  paper with no momentum to reach them.  It is important to set achievable mini-achievements so that there is some sense of accomplishment as you head toward your goal.  If you have goals and aren't reaching them, you may be stuck in boredom-land and be faced with an overwhelming understanding of how to reach the goals you have set.  It is time to break your goals into smaller pieces and be asking yourself : "What can I do today that will help me get one step closer to this goal?".   Mini-achievements should take no longer than 30 days to help you feel closer to your overall goal. 

3.  Lack of Responsibility

This is one of the key reasons children get bored so easily.  Suddenly when people become adults they are given the responsibilities to work a 40 hour week, raise children who depend on them, and take care of those who rely on them.  If you are someone who is reaching his/her goals on a regular basis but still find yourself bored often, maybe there are some ways you can add some responsibility to your life to help you stay involved with others.  Here are some ideas if you find yourself lacking responsibility:

A. Think about adopting a pet (cat/dog).  Pets add some definite responsibility to your life and they depend on you for love and support.  A nice cat/dog can really enhance your life and keep you busy if you find yourself not sure how to spend your time.  Dogs have to be walked on a regular basis and are really great companions, and cats can be great in their own way as well.

B. Consider Volunteering in Your Church or Community.  Churches are great places to get involved with others that share similar values, and volunteering can give you a chance to get out of your comfort zone and meet other people as well as serve those in need.  Habitat for Humanity is a great program to get involved in that allows you to help out with home repair and building with a group of people.   If you find yourself tired of Netflix and ready to branch out - consider looking up some churches or volunteer efforts near you to see how you can get involved.

C. Consider Adding a Hobby.   Hobbies can be a great constructive way to spend your time as long as they don't consume too much of your time and money.   There are hobbies out there for just about any interest under the sun.   My personal ones include : running for recreational purposes, playing chess, and watching good movies.  These all help me to recharge after a long day (or before in the case of running) and also give me an outlet that is different than my 9 to 5 job.   Hobbies can also be a great way to meet others who enjoy the same interests and all these factors help you in a major way to avoid the "b" word.

Being bored is a choice.  We all can creatively come up with ways to spend our time, and sometimes it involves branching out to meet new people, experience new things, or try different hobbies.  Netflix is fun, but after a while it can really pay off to turn off the television, shut off the video game console, and get involved with hobbies and responsibilities that don't just entertain you,  but actually grow and develop you.   Why not start one today?

Defying the Aging Process? - Only If Your Name Is Ben Button - A Review

Since I have been watching a lot of science fiction/fantasy lately,  I decided to sit down and watch this 2 hour 40 minute tale of The Curious Case of Benjamin Button.  It won several Academy Awards so I thought I would see what it was all about.  This is the story of a boy born as an 80 year old who gets younger by the year.  Brad Pitt plays Benjamin Button who is a man who starts old and gets younger and younger.  Brad was a good choice because his face is pretty young-looking so he played the part well as he is supposed to get younger instead of older throughout the movie.  Cate Blanchett also did a wonderful job playing his friend and lover as the years go on.  It was strange, but I found this movie in many ways similar to Forrest Gump.  The tale of a man who travels through many seasons of life to meet all sorts of characters.  At the end the drama wraps up the different lives of the characters that Benjamin Button had interacted with.   It seemed a lot like Forrest Gump in that way.   Unfortunately, despite winning 3 academy awards I failed to connect with a man who just can't stop getting younger.  Even the love story seemed shallow to me as Benjamin Button doesn't seem to know the meaning of the word "marriage".  Here is why Benjamin Button didn't get a high rating from my perspective:

1.  No moral compass for Benjamin Button.

 Call me a conservative if you will,  but Benjamin Button has no sense of right and wrong when it comes to women.  He has no trouble fornicating with harlots and sleeping with married women, or simply sleeping with women without even bringing up the subject of marriage.  I know this is a fictional tale, but despite some church attendance in the early parts of the movie, Benjamin Button seems content to not even think much about God at all throughout the journey of this movie. Not a great quality of the main character.

2. A movie so long that you almost feel your facial hair starting to grow (if you're a guy). 

 It was a definitely new twist to have a man born as an 80 year old and then get younger by the year. The problem was it takes so long to tell this tale that you feel like you are getting older spending over 180 minutes watching his fictional life.  If you are a man, you may just feel like your beard needs a shave after getting through the whole movie.  Ironic considering the main character is getting younger as you get older watching this story.

3. Lack of emotional connection to the characters. 

Maybe Cate Blanchett's character had some relate-able moments, but overall I failed to connect with many if any of the characters in this movie.  It was quite a story, but if you don't feel emotionally connected to anyone after 2.5 hours of your time, it feels like a wasted effort.

Conclusion :
I'm learning the hard way that the Academy Awards and Oscars don't seem to appreciate movies the way that I do.  In fact, when movies win awards like that - I'm almost inclined to skip them.  I have watched awarded movie after awarded movie and came away,  disappointed.  I'm not looking for a movie to be just edgy and go where no movie has gone before.  I'm looking for an edifying experience when I watch a movie.  Benjamin Button didn't quite come out a winner in that light for me.  Maybe the book is better - I don't know.   What I do know is that I will not be re-watching this tale.

If You Could Move Your Brain : A Review of Self/less

Since I have recently reviewed Limitless and kind of liked it, I saw this movie being advertised with some similarities and decided to see what the differences were.   Self/less is about a wealthy man who is dying of cancer.  He finds some questionable science people who assure him he can take the form of a younger man with his same brain by agreeing to undergo a special procedure.   So he does - and there is where the story gets interesting.  At first he likes being young again after his old body has been buried and his brain is alive and well inside the newer younger body,  but then as he starts to learn more - he realizes that this isn't as great of a deal as he originally thought.  He has to take anti-rejection pills constantly or weird things seeem to happen, and some of the people in his life begin to act very suspiciously when he gets curious.  Here is how this movie and Limitless are similar :

1. Both have a charismatic young man as the main character of the story

2. Both involve an older man (in Limitless it is Robert De Niro and in Self/less it is Ben Kingsley) who is interested in the miracle technology.

3.  Both are science fiction.

4. OK this last one is lame - but both have the less in the title.

After that they are not that similar AT ALL.

Which one did I like better?  Well Self/less had a better ending that didn't raise a ton of questions, and I found the plot twists and turns in Self/less better overall than the ones in Limitless.  Both held my interest very well,  but Self/less showed the value of character above power in a more convincing way than the movie Limitless.  There were definite weird moments, but overall I think the Self/less plot and storyline was better.   If you like interesting, thought-provoking science fiction, you should try watching Self/less.  It definitely gave Chrystal and I a lot to talk about.

Red : A Fun Movie to Check Out

This movie is not your typical.  It falls into the action-comedy genre and it features a lot of gags and over-the-top action sequences with a decent storyline and plenty of acting talent throughout.

The movie centers around a retired character played well by Bruce Willis who is considered R.E.D (Retired and Extremely Dangerous).  Although older, he still knows how to kick some rear and has many friends who are also interested in staying in the action.   Bruce Willis' character Frank is being pursued by some bad people who want him dead - so he gets together with some old pals in order to defend himself and find out who is really behind the violent attempts on his life.  I think this movie was great.  I enjoy movies like The Mask of Zorro, and the Indiana Jones series because they have plenty of action, but they also throw in the fun jokes along the ride.  This movie is in the same vein.   Great stunts, exciting weapons used in the movie, and funny moments throughout the movie.  I think my two favorite players in the movie were John Malkovich and Helen Mirren.  They both did a great job with their parts and I thought John Malkovich was one of the funniest actors in the movie.  Mr. Malkovich played a secluded guy who was a conspirator theorist about everything government.  He added a lot of humor to the story and even went as far as concealing some weapons in a stuffed pink pig during part of the movie.  I don't want to reveal much more - but I think I may have watched it if John was in it alone.  If you add in Morgan Freeman, Richard Dreyfuss, and some of the other big names in this movie - you end up with a great story with plenty of star power.

This wasn't a deep movie, but for what it set out to do - it did it well.  I recommend RED if you are interested in watching a fun movie with a lot of over-the-top action.  Two thumbs up.

Another Journey Into Space : A Review of Star Trek: Into Darkness

I'm not known to be "A Trekky" (if that is even the correct term).  I know the basic premise of Star Trek and enjoyed the reboot of Star Trek that JJ Abrams put together several years ago.  This was JJ Abram's sequel to the first movie with Chris Pine resuming the role of Captain Kirk.   I sat back to see how it compared.  Since, I haven't seen the original Star Trek II : The Wrath of Khan - I was curious if this was a reboot of it since the main villain in this one is Khan himself.  I noticed that the original Star Trek II is available for streaming, so I may soon be watching it to see how this one compares.  Overall - I liked it.   It was fast-moving, and fun.  It wouldn't call it a classic movie, but for Star Trek it definitely kept my interest.  JJ Abrams knows how to do science fiction movies fairly well.  Otherwise Star Wars VII would have flopped badly.   I didn't like his movie Super 8,  but every director has their good movies and their bad ones.  There are several drawbacks to this one:

1. No cameo from William Shatner.  I know the guy is busy with Priceline commercials, but it still would have been fun and humorous for the new Captian Kirk to meet the legendary Captain Kirk.

2. Not as deep as it was fun.  I don't expect all science fiction movies to be deep, but I like ones that make me think about science, the future and deeper meanings to life.  This one didn't seem to really attempt much of that except trying to be a fun adventure in outer space.

3. Special Effects were good.  That's all I'll say about special effects.  I don't like movies that come off as video games rather than good stories.  This one stuck with the story and had good supporting effects,  and that's all I have to say about the special effects.

Conclusion:  All in all, this movie was a fun journey and I would definitely be open to watching more in the Star Trek reboot series.  It didn't turn me off - yet it didn't blow me away.  A decent effort and a fun revisiting of a science fiction story that has stood the test of time.

Unleashing Your Potential : A Review of Limitless

Just finished the movie Limitless by Bradley Cooper and have found out it has much more of a

following than I originally thought.   The story is about a burned-out writer who can't seem to focus on his writing.  He is kind of sloppy and very unmotivated.  Then he starts taking an experimental drug that allows him to use 100% of his brain rather than the 10-20% that normal humans use on a day-to-day basis.   After he starts taking this, he realizes his potential and begins to write and become an amazing individual due to his tremendous focus and expertise even though he is the same person.  The problems begin when he relies on this drug to do anything meaningful in his life and dangerous people start to want to control this drug so that they can be limitless as well as controlling of others.

This movie definitely had some twists and surprises and I was kind of puzzled by the ending.  Turns out the ending is open to several interpretations as to what happens and that sets it apart a lot from other movies.  After googling Limitless and endings, there are several ideas of what really happened,  but I won't go into spoiling it for you.  Here is what I thought the movie did well:

1. Showed how productive someone can be with complete focus using all resources we've been given.

Granted this is fiction, but it was an interesting story because his drugs didn't make him superhuman, so much as optimized human.  We all want to be intelligent and focused to do amazing things,  and this movie creates a hero role who can do just that.

2. Showed the dangers of addiction to any substance that is relied on to live life to the max.

The main character quickly learns that success has some high costs.  The miracle drug in this story caused others to want a piece of the action, and it creates a very strong addictive tendency in those that use it on a regular basis.  However, once the main guy experienced the perks, he became more and more willing to take chances to have the experience again.  Over time it changed him and his character went to crazy length to experience the high it delivered.   This is a great modern day parable for the dangers of addictive substances to live life above average.  Everyone needs to accept who they are and strive to grow without legal or illegal substances determining the outcome.

3. Great modern-day parable about the dangers of dependency on anything/anyone besides your Creator.

The writers may not have intended for this - but I found it a great modern-day fable/parable with a strong moral lesson.  Don't allow anything or anyone control you except the God who created you.  The second part of this lesson didn't come across so clearly, but the first part was very clearly shown in this movie's tale.  Crime/violence and crazy things begin to happen when the main hero gets to a point where he can't live without this untested drug.    Jesus says quite clearly in John 15:5 (NIV) "If you remain in me and I in you, you will bear much fruit; apart from me you can do nothing." That is the truth - if we aren't relying on God we will try to lean and rely on others and end up messing up in major ways.

Conclusion

This was a very thought provoking movie.  I didn't realize until after viewing it that it even spawned a TV series of the same name.  It was definitely entertaining to watch and made you consider the dangers of dependency on substances to function.  However, that being said I felt the writers went a bit too far in showing the gruesome, violent outcome of this hazardous journey.  The movie stuck with me for a while,  but in some ways I think it was because it was a bit shocking.  In other ways I think it was because the ending is open to interpretation and debate.  I liked how they did the ending. It wasn't tied up with a bow, but it made you think about the choices of the characters.    If you like good science-fiction/fantasy movies that make you think - you may want to try watching Limitless.

A Peek Into a Brilliant Mind : Review of A Brilliant Young Mind

The movie "A Brilliant Young Mind" is about a young man named Nathan Ellis who is exceptionally gifted and has a genius level mind, yet who struggles to relate to everyone in his life.  Nathan may even be diagnosed autistic, and this movie sets out to show from his perspective and those in his life how it feels to be so smart that those around you don't know quite how to act.  

First let me state : don't watch this movie for action.  It is a thinking person's drama that many would consider slow.  Yet, I wouldn't call it boring and it had enough humor and interest in the plot that I finished it without wondering if I'd make it through.  I read that one reviewer compared this movie to "Rocky" as far as redemption and a great journey.  I wouldn't go that far myself.  It was a fascinating journey watching Nathan and his mom, teachers, and classmates all struggle to relate, but I wouldn't consider this movie as emotionally connecting as the movie "Rocky" managed to be.  Here are my take-aways:

1. Touching portrayal of how a teacher and a mother struggle to relate to a boy genius. 

Nathan was so smart, those he loved the most found it frustrating to work with him. However, this movie does offer hope as the characters work through some of the challenges and learn to love each other in spite of the challenges.

2. Interesting subplot of how a teacher deals with his failing health

One of Nathan's teachers in this movies is dealing with Multiple Sclerosis.  He seems down and depressed through much of the movie and finds destructive ways to cope with his failing health at times.  The teacher does see the value in working with gifted people (like he was) though, and thankfully doesn't self-destruct in his journey of accepting the symptoms of MS.  

3. One underlying theme is the ability to find love despite your social challenges

Nathan doesn't have many friends, but he does meet a young lady at his math camp who takes a liking to him.  This movie shows that even those who are major social hang-ups can still find people who want to spend time with them and love them.  Nathan meets someone just like this, and I think this part of the movie is fairly accurate.   Love many times knows no boundaries as far as compatibility and willingness to overlook faults.    This movie does a great job showing that.

This movie is British and I thought it was well produced and well acted.   Some other movies of similar nature are "Little Man Tate" and "Searching For Bobby Fischer".   I would say this movie rates much higher than "Little Man Tate", but not nearly as high as "Searching For Bobby Fischer". If you liked "Searching For Bobby Fischer" or are in the mood for a good thinking drama, you may want to watch it and reflect on the challenges of being so smart - you find it hard to live life average.