Question: Do you have any suggestions for making use of idle time such as waiting in lines, traffic, doctor offices, etc.?

Answer: Any time we feel ourselves getting bored or “up tight” because we feel our time is being wasted, we can remember that what is really wasting our time — and our soul’s possibility to develop — is this secret  negative state we are now identified with. Shake yourself awake, and drop the known irritation or boredom in favor of being a witness to the life around you. “Watch, for ye know not when.”

Question: I feel bored with my job and my life in general. In the past I would have looked for a new job or a time-consuming hobby. Is there inner work I can do to relieve the boredom of the job?

Answer: When we are bored with life, it is because we have at last begun to outgrow what our thought-life can provide for us. While there may be reasons for boredom with your job, you should never experience boredom in your inner work. Learn to use your situation instead of mechanically resisting it. Boredom is nothing other than thought gazing at thought and telling itself what it sees. Set inner tasks for yourself and watch the boredom disappear.