With youth: Why is life not lively?

The following is an excerpt from a samvaad (dialogue) session with Acharya Prashant.

Acharya Prashant (AP): Prateek is asking, ‘what is this thing called boredom?’ Why life is not really interesting? Even when there is a period of interest, why does it fade away? Prateek, boredom comes because you are somewhere else. All the fun is right now, here, but you are missing all the action. It’s like a great party that is booming here, right now, and you are somewhere else. The party is real; the place you are at is imaginary. You are missing out on all the fun, on all the celebration.

The next question would be, ‘if I really know that there is a great feast going on here, then why would I miss it?’ Yes, nobody wants to skip it. The thing with this is, we all have been trained and educated, conditioned thoroughly, to live in the future, especially as a young man. Our education and upbringing is all about looking towards the future.

Let me give you a few examples from our own life. We study for the sake of results, and results are in the future. Now, as you are sitting with your book, go into it. What really matters to you- the book or the result? The real thing. You are with the book so that..?

Listeners (L): We can get good results.