I guess in earlier periods in my life, I would have answered the question as follows: As long as I stick to expectations of my peers, family and co-workers, I am likely not to be boring, even though I might be bored.

A classic situation would be going to a club or a disco, where one was the assigned driver and thus could not drink. If I was the person in question, of course I was bored quickly, because, in these days, going to a club sober would be very boring (for me), even if I had a good time dancing and fun with the music, somewhere around midnight I would have my “dead point” and I got bored very, very much. So I suggested going home. The others, of course, “drank away” their boredom and their dead point up until early in the morning.

If I was not the driver, the only way for me to survive the boring club situation was to drink even more. Then, of course, I wouldn’t be bored, nor would I be boring, because when I was drunk, I was fun. Or so.

In my earlier life, you would be the buzzkiller. So, either you drank, or you were stigmatized as boring. And, if I had been sober back then, I maybe would have even been ousted from certain peer groups and that was something I definitely wanted to avoid at all costs.

If you ask me the same question once again today, I will answer: If you think I’m boring, that’s your problem. I don’t live or drink for your entertainment. And if that’s the only reason for our friendship, goodbye then. Have a good life.

Am I bored? Well, in situations where I’m so bored I would need a drink in order to not be bored, I would either do something that is not boring, or I endure the boredom, because I would think it may be worthwhile surpassing a dead point after which something fun may come up. Or I go outside and take a stroll. Or I take a time out (maybe on a party) to have some time for myself.

Luckily, so far all the people I nowadays call friends (after the first great cleanup after Covid and then again after my quitting alcohol) are very fine with my sobriety and accept my boundaries. I still get invited and I still go into pubs and clubs, but when I think it’s time to leave, I leave. And if people won’t accept my decision, then it’s their problem, to be frank. If I leave, I leave, and if people depend on me being the driver, they normally know what they are in for when they accept me as a driver.

Am I boring? Maybe, if you think so. If I think what I do is interesting, I am not boring in my reality. That is sufficient for me.

Am I bored? If I choose activities that are boring to me, I am bored. I will find ways to not be bored. If that is something that makes you think I am boring, well, not my problem.

Issue solved, case closed.

Until next time, keep up the faith in yourself and take one step at a time.