Why a ‘Boring’ Life Might Be the Happiest One

What I learned when I stopped trying to make life exciting

After many years, I watched a film that touched my heart. A film that reminded me it’s always the little things that we overlook that make life worth living. A film that re-introduced me to me. It was a Japanese film called Perfect Days.

The story was simple:

The hero is a toilet cleaner. He lives alone. He wakes at six every morning. Brushes his teeth. Puts on his uniform. Drives his small van. Puts in a cassette in the player. Drives listening to English songs from the 80s. Cleans public toilets across Tokyo. Takes photographs of trees. Smiles at sunlight coming through the leaves. Eats in the same restaurant. Returns home. Reads a book under the lamp. Switches it off. Sleeps.

And the next day…. the same.

Just watching the film made me feel so calm. Like the film itself gave me a warm hug and whispered: “It’s okay to live a slow boring life”.

When the film ended, I made myself a cup of green tea and sat on the balcony. Just looking at the trees and the sky and feeling the warm cup in my hands. And I said to myself: “this is home”.

I feel the world has become too fast. Too restless. Too demanding. We don’t say it, but there’s always this quiet pressure we all feel. A pressure to know all the latest trends. The latest fashion. The latest tech. A pressure that creates a subtle fear inside our hearts.

The fear of being left behind…

I remember my father. When computers first came into our house, he would call me every week. How do I print this? What is a PDF? I remember how his hand trembled
moving the pointer across the screen.

It irritated me. What’s so hard about it? I thought. Now the memory hurts my throat. Because now I understand. He was trying. The world rushed past him too fast. But he was trying.

Everyday I read things like:

- If you don’t know these AI tips, you’re losing $10,000 a month.

- 8 exercises than cat melt pounds right out of your belly

- Invest in these 2 crypto coins and double your income in a week

They make you feel like if you don’t know these things, you are a lesser being.

Like last weekend, one of my friends told me about a web series that’s going viral everywhere.

When I told him I’ve not heard about it, he looked at me like: “you can’t be real!!”

To tell you the truth, I cannot keep up with the world anymore. It’s changing too fast. I’m a quick learner. I’m hard working. But I can’t. I’m done. It’s just too much. And I’m tired. Tired of losing myself. Tired of chasing fads and trends that make me betray who I am.

Now I have reached a place in my life where I am ready to be left behind.

Maybe you’re tired too… and if you are, here are some little things that may help:

1. it’s okay to live a boring life

Boring doesn’t mean a dull life. Boring means a life that feels calming. To repeat the same cosy routines. To eat the same food. To wear a simple black tee and the old blue Levi’s. To sit with the same two friends you’ve known for twenty years. The world rewards spectacle. Flashy instagram reels. Curated Twitter lives. Always something new. Always someone shining brighter. But behind those lights there is emptiness. The truth is: there are many like you. Many like me. Living quietly. Doing what they like. Finding peace in repetition. A simple boring life may not be shiny and exciting, but it’s peaceful.

2. it’s okay to be old school

In the age of AI I still write with my hands. Using an 8”x 5” notebook and my old loyal Reynolds 045 pen or an HB pencil. There’s something fulfilling about creating something with your own hands. I can write a prompt in ChatGPT and it can spit out a letter like this in 5 seconds. But my conscience doesn’t allow me to do that. I want to do honest work. It may not be perfect and polished, but it carries my soul. I’m not against AI. All I’m saying is, you don’t have to follow the herd. Do it the way that feels right in your heart.

3. it’s okay to be good at just one thing

I guess we learn it too late that it’s okay to be average. I’m not an athlete, but I can walk 5 miles. I’m not an professional chef, but I can cook. I’m not a polyglot, but I can read and write in two languages. The only thing I guess I’m a little good at is putting thoughts in my head onto the paper. It may not be perfect, but I try to write the best I can. And sometimes, that’s enough.

4. it’s ok to have just 3 hobbies

I write to make a living. I walk to be healthy. And I read and watch films to keep my mind sharp. I don’t want anything else. I’m happy. People around you may do all kinds of cool things, but you don’t have to. Instead, do things that are sustainable in the long-term. Things that don’t make you feel like you’re betraying yourself. Things that don’t feel forced.

5. it’s okay to love the ordinary

The 2 a.m peace. The same old restaurant. The smell of pencil shavings. The silence of an empty house. The warmth of tea long after the cup is empty. The little things. The ordinary things. We all know them. We all see them. We all feel them. But we rarely talk about them. And yet they are the very things that make life bearable.

When I watched Perfect Days, I realized again: beauty hides in repetition. In routine. In the same sun falling differently every morning. The toilet cleaner’s life looked “boring” from the outside. But inside it was filled with light.

And perhaps that is the secret. Not to run. Not to catch up. But to stay.

To stay with your pen. Your walk. Your small joys. Your quietness. To be left behind. And maybe in that place, you will find yourself. Again.

6. it’s ok to miss out

Algorithms will feed you more of what you like. That’s how they keep us on a leash. Craving for more. But you can stop it right now. Simply by overcoming your fear of missing out and embracing the joy of missing out. Replace it with things that make you peaceful. Like going out for a walk in nature. Reading a novel. Watching an art film. Staring at the ocean. Listening to the birds singing. The rustle of leaves. The calm of your own breath. Once you start doing these things you’ll feel you weren’t really missing anything. It was just your imagination.

7. and finally, it’s ok to live a life other people don’t understand

I end many of my tweets with, “you won’t get it”. I used this phrase 3 years ago. And it resonated with thousands of introverts. Because they felt it, they got it. Sit on a path bench alone. Feel the warm sun. Look the the flowers. Stare at the clouds. Don’t fit it. Don’t be ashamed to be different. Do things that take you closure to who you are every single day. That’s what gives meaning to our lives. To just be your most honest self.

Final word…

We spend so much of our lives chasing a version of “enough” that was never ours to begin with. Always trying to catch up. To know more. Do more. Become more.
But maybe… the answer was never “more.” Maybe it was less.

Less noise.
Less pressure.
Less chasing.

And more of the things that make you, you.

The world rewards loud voices, fast growth, constant novelty. But introverts, we thrive in silence. In the quiet walks. The familiar tea cups. The slow mornings. The repetition that grounds us.

You don’t need to race to matter.
You don’t need to keep up to be worthy.
You don’t need to be understood by everyone to live a meaningful life.

Maybe the real secret is simply to stay. Stay with your silence. Stay with your quiet hobbies. Stay with your boring, beautiful life.

Because sometimes, in choosing to be “left behind,” you finally return to yourself.

If this letter spoke to you, my book Born to Stand Out was written for moments like this.

It’s for introverts who feel too much. Who think deeply. Who are tired of running in a race that was never meant for them. It’s not another “fix yourself” manual. It’s a gentle invitation to come home to who you already are.

Inside, you’ll find stories, insights, and timeless principles to help you embrace your quiet power, protect your energy, and build a life that feels calm, confident, and true.

Get your copy HERE.

The world doesn’t need another copy. It needs you — slow, real, and unapologetically yourself.

Stay blessed,
Karun

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