Boredom; a useful state of mind, or a waste? *rough draft*

Boredom is often characterized and idealized as an irritation, as a lack of having something interesting or engaging to do. Most people hate to be bored, view it as a negative emotion, and often try to involve themselves in something constantly to avoid the grating pain of boredom. They find boredom and lulls in activity as bad things. "Idle thoughts are the playground of the devil" is an old saying from long ago, in reference to being bored. On the other hand, I don't think boredom is a bad thing whatsoever. Being bored is an excellent way to relax and to inspire creativity. It also shows an ability to cope emotionally.

For instance, life is filled with a constant source of pain and aggravation. Bills, stress, fights with friends and family, responsibility. They are all significant sources of frustration and stress. Being bored, being presented with absolutely nothing to do can have a very relaxing effect, rather than investing all of your effort into doing something to entertain yourself. Simply going outdoors and doing absolutely nothing can be boring, but absolutely relaxing at the same time.

Boredom also has a wonderfully stimulative effect on the mind. I know this myself, first hand. Often times, when I'm in a class or doing something I'd rather not be doing, my mind immediately wanders to the first thing I'd rather be doing. More often than not, that thing I'd rather be doing is writing. Although it's not productive to not pay attention in class, when you can afford to be bored and let your mind wander, you can come up with brilliant ideas. For me, I've come up with several story ideas by simply being bored in class and opening a notebook and doing something else instead. Boredom can be the throw of the switch that ignites the best of ideas.

Also, there are some people who believe that those who are able to cope with boredom have a higher "EQ", an emotional quotient, similar to an intelligence quotient. EQ gauges your emotional intelligence, your ability to tackle emotional obstacles and overcome them successfully. Thus, those who can cope with, manipulate and benefit from boredom have a higher EQ and are able to deal with emotional obstacles better. In a video, they recorded children given chocolate eggs. They were told that if they could wait without eating the chocolate egg for twenty minutes, they'd get two as a reward. Some of the children entertained themselves by counting, others talked to themselves, and some seemed to do poorly when presented with nothing to do. Some ended up giving in to the boredom and consumed the egg for lack of anything better to do after a bout of frustration. The experiment was run to simulate boredom and how those who could wait longer and entertain themselves would be able to overcome obstacles easier.

Despite boredom being labeled a "negative" emotion or state of mind, it should be viewed as a more positive thing when one knows how to benefit from it.