My mom used to tell me so many stories about her childhood. She would tell me about how on weekends she would go up with her family to the mountains (in Taiwan) and pick young bamboo shoots to take home and cook and eat. She would tell me about her groups of friends from middle school, high school, and college, everyone‘s characteristics, how they were all different or the same, and what they all did together. I used to think about this a lot. Growing up, on weekends, I played sports or did homework. My friends and I got ingredients from our pantries (prepared by our parents) and baked cookies. I lived a relatively privileged life. I told her, kind of depressed, once, “I am going to have nothing to tell my future children. My life is so uninteresting.“ That was when she explained to me that it‘s not about how interesting your life is, or what you do. It‘s about how you tell it. Upon reflection, this is what I learned--

Most answers here refer to external perception - how someone views another as boring. I think someone is boring only if they themselves think they are uninteresting. These people do not know how to frame things in the right way. Every aspect of life is a story.

Take, for example, someone who lives life on the edge: Person A. Person A works at a cool young startup that tries to influence charity by making giving simple and accessible. In his free time, Person A likes to drive to the coast and go wake boarding, even if the Pacific Ocean has rough winds and huge waves that make the sport choppy and challenging. Person A has also taken a year off between jobs to travel across Asia and take photographs with a fancy camera (photography is one of Person A‘s hobbies). Note: Person A does not exist (to my knowledge). But he sounds fascinating! He is living an amazing life, traveling the world, making a difference in society. But if Person A thinks nothing of his life, that no one cares, that all the things he does and has done isn‘t interesting, then when he talks to people, that will be the only thing people hear and see. The conversation held could easily go like this:

- Hey, good seeing you, it‘s been forever! How was your weekend?
- It was okay.
- What did you do?
- Nothing really. Same old.

Person A sounds like he has nothing to add to the conversation, when in fact he probably could have started an epic conversation about waves and sunsets or saving the world. Person A is boring, but his life is not.

But let‘s assume there is a Person B. Person B literally does nothing. He sits around in his room, lies in bed, and sleeps. Perhaps he has a dull, mindless job, and can‘t figure out what his interests are, so he has no hobbies really. Occasionally he walks outside to get food and groceries, or be in a social environment that perhaps has landed him in the middle of the following conversation:

- Hey, good seeing you, it‘s been forever! How was your weekend?

Here the conversation could easily go two ways:

Scenario 1
- Hey, good seeing you, it‘s been forever! How was your weekend?
- It was okay.
- What did you do?
- Nothing really. Same old.

OR

Scenario 2
- Hey, good seeing you, it‘s been forever! How was your weekend?
- I did absolutely nothing. I managed to stay in bed for 40 out of 48 hours.
- Record! How‘d you manage that... etc. etc.

Person B in Scenario 2 is a storyteller. Sure, he may do nothing in life, but he still loves it. And he knows how to hold a conversation. Even if he doesn‘t have much to add to it, he can make anything “boring“ sound like a story.

*Obviously, it‘s important that the listener is active and interested. A conversation, or any social interaction, goes both ways. People should help each other out when one or the other is telling their “story.“ People can be mutually boring, like as below.

- Hey, good seeing you, it‘s been forever! How was your weekend?
- It was okay. How about yours?
- It was okay.
(end of conversation)

This can be useful if you really don‘t actually want to talk to the other person.

I know both Person As and Person Bs in my life. I know Person As are interesting, absolutely fascinating, but if I can‘t talk to them, eventually, I start to think Person As are boring. Meanwhile, I know Person Bs do nothing, but if they can talk about their nothingness with great enthusiasm, I would talk to them all day everyday. These people embrace every aspect of their life.

Conclusion: don‘t think you aren‘t interesting. You are. Everyone is. Life is a story, and as long as you can tell it right, no one can disagree.

过去，我的母亲总会给我讲述她童年时的故事。她讲起她和家人常常在周末去爬山（在台湾），并挖些鲜嫩的竹笋回家做菜吃；她讲起她在初中、高中、大学时代的好友们，他们种种相同或不同的性格，以及大家一起做过的事情。我经常想起母亲的话。成长期间的无数个周末，我不是去运动，就是在做作业，也有些时候，我和朋友们从各家的厨房里拿来食材，然后做饼干吃。我过着优越却也有些平淡的生活。曾有一次，我有些失望地对母亲说，“我以后肯定没有任何有趣的回忆讲给子女听。我的人生是如此的乏味。” 就是在那时，她对我说，这并不是你人生是否有趣或是你做了什么不平凡的事，而是你将如何去讲述它。思索良久，下面是我体会到的——





我认为某个人的无聊，仅仅是因为他们本身就认为自己是无聊的。这些人不知道如何讲述自己的故事，事实上，从任何一个角度看待人生都能产生故事。


举个极端的例子吧：A在一家新晋企业工作，工作内容是疏通社会的环节，以便人们更容易地献出爱心。在空闲时间，A喜欢开车到海边，去玩花式滑水，即使太平洋兴起了狂风巨浪，他也依旧前往，哪怕这使运动变得危险重重。A也经常在更换工作的期间放自己一个年假，去周游亚洲，并用一台性能优良的相机拍照（摄影是他的一个爱好）。注意：A并不存在（至少我并不认识这样的人）。但是他的生活听来相当有趣！他过着丰富多彩的生活，他周游世界，并对社会做出自己的贡献。但是如果A不知道如何讲述他的生活，那么他做过的所有事情就无法引起他人的兴趣。事实上，他的讲述是别人了解他生活的唯一途径。很可能他跟朋友的对话是这样的：




-嗨，好久不见啦。周末过得怎么样？
-还好吧。
-你都做了些什么？
-额，没什么。跟原来差不多。

A听起来似乎没什么可说的，然而事实上，他完全可以有段诗意的对话，他可以讲海潮的清香、落日的瑰丽或者是拯救世界（他的工作）的激情。A是个无聊的人，但他的人生不是。

假设还有一个人B。B真的可以说是什么都没有做。他只是坐在房间里，躺在床上，或是睡个不醒。也许B有一个无聊又无脑的工作，也不见他有什么兴趣爱好，可能他压根就没什么感兴趣的。偶尔，他会走到外面买些食物和杂货，也许会去参加个聚会。聚会上，他可能跟别人这样对话：




场景1

-嗨，好久不见啦。周末过得怎么样？
-还好吧。
-你都做了些什么？
-额，没什么。跟原来差不多。

或者

场景2

-嗨，好久不见啦。周末过得怎么样？
-我绝对什么都没做。48个小时里，我竟然在床上躺了40个小时。
-天呐，你是怎么做到的……

场景2里的B是一个讲故事的好手。的确，他可能生活中没做过什么了不起的事情，但他依旧是有趣的，这主要是因为他能有趣地讲出那没什么可讲的生活，他把无聊讲述得像个有趣的故事。

我认识一些A类人，也认识一些B类人。我知道A的生活很有趣，但如果我没能跟他说话，我也会开始认为A是无聊的。同时，我知道B类人的生活很乏味，但如果他能有趣地讲述出他的生活，我将会很乐意每天都打听他的生活。B类人从生活的每一个角度去感受生活。

结论：
不要认为你的人生没有意思。事实上，你的人生很有趣——每个人的人生都是有趣的。生活是一个故事，只要你能很好地讲述它。