Have you ever been so bored you could cry?

No. Develop some inner resources.

No. Simply no. To do so demonstrates great selfishness..

@Hawaii_Jake @gailcalled Well, I was 12 at the time…

I cannot imagine what that would be like. I don’t even know how to be bored.

@YARNLADY Haha, you are very lucky! I don’t get bored these days, so much to do, but I used to get bored all the time.

No. There is always something to do, and I don’t commit to doing things I would find boring.

Anytime I see boredom on the horizon I find myself picking up a book.

I cannot recall ever being bored to tears but I think I almost did it to my kids. They finally rebelled and refused to visit another cathedral in England.

I’ve fallen asleep, but I’ve never come to tears.

I do know the feeling!
First off, I don’t think you were really crying form the boredom, you were probably crying out of frustration. You were frustrated that the world is filled with all manner of exciting, wonderful things to be doing and you were impatient to be doing them!

Patience, they say, is a virtue.
They also say self sacrifice is noble.
Yes, people will always tell you that you’re selfish to go on that ski trip instead of going to your Uncle Archibald’s birthday party. (He’ll be sooooo disappointed!)
Or they’ll tell you you’re greedy because you want a second ice cream cone. (Is it greedy to want things? Wanting is a feeling. Greed is a behavior.)
People will even try to tell you you’re selfish to have children. (How can you bring a child into this horrible world!!!0
Or they’ll tell you you’re greedy to not have children. (You just want to live your selfish materialistic lifestyle and not give back to the world! He, he, he, more for me, me me!!!))
But are you selfish?
Are you greedy?
Maybe, maybe not.

In a group situation, such as a family for one example, we always need to balance our desires with our responsibilities to each other. We need to be considerate of other people and balance our needs and wants against their needs and wants.
In return, they need to have consideration for us. Otherwise, it doesn’t work.

When you’re a child you can get dragged around a lot doing things that you don’t want to do, things you haven’t chosen to do, simply because your parents insist, and you are powerless, powerless, to control the situation. Not that kids don’t try! They sulk, they get angry, they might even have a temper tantrum. Or, they might cry from boredom, a heartfelt, and entirely understandable reaction to frustration. Biut in the end, unless the kids are super spoiled brats, the parents get to call the shots. Depending how considerate they are of the kids in tow, those kids could be subjected to any number of boring experiences, assaults on their dignity and unfair rules. (Maybe the rules are unfair, maybe not. Maybe you’re acting immature and bored, and maybe you’re not)

When other people, including your parents, don’t respect your feelings, it’s upsetting. But even if they do respect your feelings, that doesn’t mean your entitled to get your own way. I don’t think you should deny your feeling to yourself, but I don’t think you should sulk and demand either. Explore your options. In a situation like your trip to the museum for example:if you must go to the museum try to find something good in it. Maybe the exhibits are boring but the people visiting the museum are interesting. Maybe there’s a cool piece of glass in the window that’s catching the light and throwing rainbows around the room. Maybe a grandfather next to you is explaining to his grandson how back in the day he used to ride on a firetruck just like the one in the picture! Maybe the architecture of the building is really interesting.Whatever!!
Seek and ye shall find!!
Consider it a challenge to yourself!
Because I am with you totally in the feeling that life is way too short to spend one moment bored and frustrated if you can help it! Once that moment is gone, it’s gone forever, so if there’s any way in hell to make it a good one (or at least, a better one) do it!!!!
And when you’re out doing something with your parents that they want to do and you are bored with, think of all the boring school plays and what not that they sat through for you. Think of all the times when they helped you with your homework or something like that when they would rather have been doing something for themselves. Give and take, take and give. It’s a 2 way street.

But mostly,
respect your feelings,
respect other people’s needs,
make the best of the situation.
Perhaps this is what @gailcalled meant when she said “develop your inner resources.”
(She is way less wordy than I am!! Obviously)

P.S. I hope this sounds less like a lecture than I think it does. I commiserate with you, really! I understand. I am a person who likes to constantly feed my brain. When I can’t, I get extremely restless and frustrated!! I’m an introvert with a good imagination so in those times I can always escape into daydreaming. Sometimes I compose poetry in my head, sometimes I think of good ideas for paintings, sometimes I doodle designs in my notebook (or a napkin if I am desperate!!) You’ll find your own ways of amusing yourself if you try.

I think it’s harder to deal with boredom when you are younger because you have less control. It’s not like you could have left the museum. You were stuck there. Like @Earthgirl said, that is really frustrating.

As we grow older, we tend to grow inner resources that enable us to entertain ourselves when we are constricted in other ways. Imagine being locked in prison, stuck in a tiny room with nothing but a bed and a toilet. You learn how to entertain yourself inside your head. You learn how to do pushups and situps and other exercises that are possible in a cell. You do what you have to.

Because boredom is a real waste of time. When you allow yourself to be bored, you allow yourself to kill time, instead of making something out of it. You can’t get time back. Once you’ve killed it, you can’t go back and reuse it. We only get to live once. Do we really want to spend that time being bored?

Not often thankfully, but then these days I do not allow myself to be forced into boring situations. So I know what you mean. In my previous line of work, meetings were a big thing. They were the most tedious boring things I have ever had to endure. I wanted to cry but of course I didnt. In fact the companies I worked for made provision for me, and I would just leave. I guess my figures were good enough to be the Diva!

With laughter yes & only then when reading some of the pathetic, petty arguments that have a habit of frequently breaking out here on these pages.
Other than that, I haven’t got time to be bored, nor the inclination.

Did I read it here? “Only boring people are bored.”

@Sunny2 I used to know someone who was fond of that expression. She was one of the most boring people I have ever known!

I think it’s only somewhat true. I think some people have a higher need for change and novelty and excitement. I think everyone has different interests and you have to find out what interests you and be open to things and not negative about them. You shouldn’t dismiss something as boring without even trying to find the good in it. That said, there are always going to be things that you haven’t an interest in and think are boring. When you have to partake in some activity that you find boring there’s only so much you can do to make it more interesting. For example, if you aren’t challenged in school, or your job. You can try to improve things and you can try to move on, but you cannot always avoid being bored.
That said, boredom begets boredom. So when you are bored, you often become boring yourself! That’s that danger and that’s what you want to avoid at all costs!

Anyone want to take the Boredom Threshold test ?
There is an interesting article as well about the possible adaptive value of boredom.