Bored with Sobriety?

A younger client who’s been sober a while commented that at times life seemed “very boring.” When people tell me they’re bored I share with them what my grandmother told me when I said something like that to her. She said I was bored because I was boring.

Then I was in my late teens and I know I took offense at her statement. Probably because my ego said I wasn’t very boring at all. I was a pretty interesting and exciting guy, at least so I thought. But she was right. I was boring during my late teens. I was already damaged goods and had been in and out of juvenile institutions for drug and alcohol related offenses.

Today life isn’t boring. I have so many things going on there’s never an uninteresting moment. There are writing projects, workouts, groups to run, social activities, and vacations to plan – self-generated activities that keep life stimulating. I no longer view life as something that’ll happen down the road. This isn’t a dress rehearsal; life's right now. And we need to relish each moment no matter what our age.

So I told our young client to fill the space he used fill with drugs and alcohol with service work, education and self-improvement projects that’ll enhance his life so he’ll become more interesting – perhaps even to himself.