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Boredom and laziness are connected. When I was a teenager, I observed that boredom is due to laziness and that laziness is due to boredom. I realized that a lot of these bored and lazy people stay bored and lazy forever.

When I worked at United Airlines I saw how true this was. I was a Union Steward at United for six years. For those of you unfamiliar with the terminology, I had the responsibility of trying to save the jobs or mitigate the discipline of employees who were not meeting the dependability or productivity standards of the company.

I observed at United that a lot of people were lazy and bored and they tended to stay that way.

If you work in a large corporations like United Airlines, everything you do is measured or timed. How many minutes a day you spend in the restroom is part of your record. So is how many customers an hour you assist. Or if you come back from breaks punctually.

To work in such an environment can give you a great deal of structure. Some people thrive in it and some people get stressed out. And because they’re stressed out, they have to take a lot of breaks.

My experience was that the people who enjoyed helping people did fine with meeting expectations. The people who didn’t enjoy assisting customers did poorly and ended up in discipline.

Everybody experiences boredom and laziness. But some people make it a way of life. They are chronically lazy and bored. They become addicted to laziness.

But what came first, the laziness or the boredom? They are byproducts of each other. It could happen to anyone of us. One day, for whatever reason, we get a little bored. And then we’re lazy.

It’s important to be aware of what is happening and not to form an identity with it. To be bored means to be non-appreciative of life. It’s a form of lifelessness. And without life, nothing gets done. As Einstein said, “nothing happens until something moves.”

So nothing happens because nothing is moving. That indeed is a boring state of affairs. In water, if nothing moves it becomes a breeding ground of stagnation and disease.

This disinterest in life is not the freedom of desire that Buddha taught. That comes with consciousness. This is a state of lethargy caused by a lack of consciousness. The longer someone is in this state, the more habitual it becomes. Eventually it does become their identity.

I remember one day at United I was in a staff meeting and I shared what one customer shared with me. This customer was happy with my service and said it was people like me that made United the second best airline in the world. I asked, “Who is number one?”

He said, “Singapore Airlines.” After I asked what set Singapore apart from the rest of the pack, he told me this: “In the East, people know that it is an honor to serve someone. That consciousness doesn’t exist in America.”

Thinking I could build some enthusiasm in the staff meeting, I shared the comment from the customer, as I found it helpful. Only one person made a response, “That’s a bunch of horse shit,” she said. Need I say more?

It was amazing how often the same people found themselves in trouble, month after month. These people became boredom and laziness incarnate. Some employees would have statistics showing that over the course of an eight-hour day, that only worked four hours. They had no pride in their work. They just wanted to get what they could get while putting in the least amount of effort.

I like what Kin Hubbard says about laziness: “Some folks can look so busy doing nothin’ that they seem indispensable.” They seem to think that they are indispensable.

If it is true that boredom and laziness are due to each other, then how can someone who is lazy and bored get free of this cycle? Does it take some kind of intervention? Does it take life becoming such a failure that the person basically kicks himself in the seat of the pants? Sometimes people just need to hit the bottom before they have the motivation to climb back up.

Perhaps the incentive being used is the wrong kind. The incentive that sounds like, “If you want to ever eat another meal then you are going to have to work” doesn’t do the trick. That is an incentive to do enough just to get by.

There has to be an incentive that translates into inner worth–into self-respect. When that happens then there is at least some dignity in the work–a little bit of caring.

Self-respect

Self-respect is self-love. And until that happens, it is not possible to love anyone else. Our relationships with other people are subjective reflections of our relationship with our self. He who holds himself in contempt holds the whole world in contempt. If you know someone like this, don’t add more contempt to his or her life. We are not redeemed by contempt, but by love.

Here is a story about a drunkard that illustrates my point. In India, a drunkard approached the spiritual master Meher Baba for a blessing. The close followers surrounding Meher Baba were concerned that he might misbehave but the master ignored them and invited him to sit close by. He patted him on the back and made him feel at home. The Master said to him, “None of these people here have ever tasted the joys of drink, and they scoff at the person who drinks. But if they were to take drink, they would realize the pleasure to be gained. What forgetfulness. The intoxication is such that the world becomes beautiful!”

What an opposite for the drunkard. He wasn’t being held in contempt. The drunkard felt comfortable with Meher Baba because he felt accepted. The alcoholism didn’t matter at all.

Meher Baba gave a discourse and then had someone sing a song. After a while Meher Baba asked how he came to know of him. The drunkard said from relatives and friends.

“That is good,” said Baba. “Will you come again?”

“I’ll try to come again,” the drunkard replied.

“Do come again when you have time. Do so. Don’t feel concerned about those who talk of your drinking. How much do you take, by the way? Do you have a full bottle every and each day?

The drunk replied, “Yes I do.

Meher Baba said, “Take it, it does not matter. But stick to the bottle, that much, and don’t let it become more than a bottle.” Then Baba embraced him, and he left. But as he left, he walked upright and confident. That was the beginning.

Some time passed and then one day Meher Baba announced that he wanted to have a musical performance put on as a special program. He sent his men to find the drunk and to inspire him to come see Baba again.

On the appointed day he came and Baba was very happy to see him. “But what is the matter with you,” said Baba. “Today you are different. Are you not friends with your bottle?”

The man whispered, “No, Baba. I heard that there was a program today, so how could I drink?”

Baba said, “I am very happy. It does not matter about the drink.”

Then during the singing program, there was a reference to wine (the spiritual wine of divine love) and Baba touched the man and said, “Look, they are singing of wine. That’s our subject” and the man became happy.

A short while later Baba stopped the music and gave a short discourse on the intoxication of liquor, and the fact that it doesn’t last and that it leads only to futility, disgust, and ridicule. And he then talked about the intoxication of love that lasts and leads to freedom and self-sufficiency.

When the man told Meher Baba what brand he drank, Baba recommended another brand he might even enjoy more. “But do me a favor,” Meher Baba asked. “Instead of drinking a bottle a day, see if you can cut back to ¾ of a bottle.” The man said he would.

The next time he showed up he was reduced to ½ a bottle and eventually a ¼ a bottle.

And finally one day he showed up beaming with joy. “Baba, I have given it up because I love you.”

This man was transformed not by being condemned, but by being shown respect and encouragement. And that respect made it possible for him to gain self-respect and transform his life.

When love enters one’s consciousness, life becomes dignified. For people at work, there is a caring for the quality of the work, an inner element to the outer work. The better the work, the more alive the heart feels.

There is an inner nourishment taking place. There is no longer any consideration of doing something just good enough to get by. We do what we do as best we can, out of love. There is an inner value to the work accomplished. There is an awareness that our work is going to benefit somebody.

This is when work transcends from drudgery to effortless joy, from boredom and laziness into inspired effort. When this happens to a worker, the worker goes from a state of no self-respect to genuine respect not only of himself, but others as well. It reminds me of the words of Emerson: “It is one of the most beautiful compensations of this life that no man can sincerely try to help another without helping himself…Serve and thou shall be served.”

This is an inner awareness. When this is awakened in people, then not only are their lives transformed from monotony into joy, but countless other lives are too. Everyone that interacts with these people from that point forward benefits from that heightened awareness. And that is not horse shit! That is life at its best.