Member-only story
Finding Peace of Mind
Modern Problems With Ancient Solutions
I took my kids deer hunting with me this weekend. The weather was wonderful. Not too hot; not too cold. The mosquitoes weren’t out. But neither were the deer.
We weren’t in the stand for 30 minutes before my son whispered, “this is boring.” This is the same kid who had hounded me repeatedly to take him hunting because he wanted to wear the camouflage outfit he used at Halloween to portray an “Army” man.
My daughter couldn’t sit still and went up and down the ladder several times and loudly cocked her B.B. gun before sending the tiny pellets at some unwitting bird.
I remember being their age and sitting in the stand with my papa or dad and having to wait patiently, scanning the woods for movement. Deer are surprisingly silent and manifest from nowhere if you aren’t watching closely. During these moments of intense focus, I had learned to put other things out of my mind and only attend to the task at hand: putting meat in the freezer.
I have noticed a trend in youth today and even some adults. We can’t sit with nothing to do anymore. Our minds have become trained, mostly by screens, to always have some form of mental stimulation. We are losing our ability to be bored.
