Explaining the importance of reading seems something very harebrained. It is because this is something universally known and it is quite hard to think of a person who because of being unaware of the blessings of reading or some other reasons does not read. Anyhow it is still a fact that most of the literate people do not avail the favours bestowed by reading.
By the word “reading” I don’t mean reading curricular books for the sake of passing exams and getting good grades. That sort of reading is something which you are bound to and you read because you have to. Usually, such reading is not accompanied by our personal interest and tendency.
Here “reading” means reading something extra-curricular which may be for the sake of information, entertainment or any of the other privileges offered by reading. Such reading is based solely on one’s personal interest and one can pick up any book of choice.
Reading isn’t something which is or should be restricted to a particular age, status, profession or topic because reading is equally gainful for people belonging to every walk of life and in any phase of their life. Furthermore reading should not be confined to a particular topic like religion, science or fiction because it makes a reader very fanatical about one arena and ignorant regarding the other multitudinous domains.
Benjamin Franklin once said, “The person who deserves most pity is a lonesome one on a rainy day who does not know how to read” but to me, the doom of the person who does not read besides being literate is even more and therefore deserves more pity.
For Muslims, the fact that their holy book the Quran had begun with the word ” read ” should be sufficient to grasp the importance of reading. The idea can further be apprehended by knowing the uncountable benefits conferred by reading.
People strive hard for seeking different means which may help in boosting their concentration but the real source of enhancing concentration is reading. Reading takes us away from the multi-tasking and multi-thinking mindset of the 21st century and helps us to solely focus on one particular job i.e. reading. Once developed, concentration skill positively affects all the areas of life ranging from personal relationships to workplaces.
Readers discover new horizons by getting acquainted with new ideas from scholars across the world and time. Via reading mind expands not only by knowing the diverse ideas of the living generation of Sapiens but the ideas of those who lived thousands of years ago can also be known and thus availed.
“One glance at a book and you hear the voice of another person, perhaps someone dead for 1,000 years. To read is to voyage through time.”
– Carl Sagan
Reading helps the minds to remain active, fresh and healthy. That is why it helps in preventing serious diseases like Alzheimer’s and Dementia. It aids in extending our schools of thoughts beyond our narrow limits. In this era of depression, stress and isolation, reading soothes minds by assisting in thinking creatively. Without reading it is quite hard to have awareness of the valuable ideas existing beyond our scope. The more you read, the more ideas you will have and so the more creative you’ll be. According to recent studies, if people would know about the good effects of reading on mental health, they would not visit psychologists or doctors for issues like adverse heart rate, muscle tension and stress levels. Reading doesn’t let us feel alone by giving us a sense of belonging.
Readers are the leaders. It is because reading has proven itself to be the best way of knowing about how the world works. Trace the lives of the great leaders who ever existed and you will soon come to know that they are/were good readers. Napoleon Bonaparte, therefore, was of the view, “Show me a family of readers, and I will show you the people who move the world.”
Reading broadens perspectives by aiding a reader in visiting places previously unknown, knowing ideas formerly outlandish and dealing with experiences erstwhile alien. This way a reader can live many lives by knowing about the lives of others.
It aids in building new relationships with great intellectuals. If you and the stranger guy sitting beside you on a train have read a common book, there’s a great chance that you may become good chums. Learning communication skills is a lifelong process. Reading helps a lot in this regard by teaching new vocabulary, writing styles, sentence structures and new ideas. Usually, a good reader is always a good writer and a good speaker.
Reading helps develop good analytical skills. While reading one can imagine the whole situation and put oneself in the shoes of the writer. This way one can analyze whether the writer has conveyed his/her message in a meaningful way or it can further be improved. While reading a story, one can check one’s analytical skills by estimating the end of the story. Good analytical skills ease many challenges of life.
You need not consume fatal drugs because reading can soothe you as a healthy tranquilizer. The pleasure received after reading a good book can not be found elsewhere. It can lead almost to a reading addiction. From my personal experience, the happiest moments are when I just finish a book and start thinking about what should be the next read. Reading is a great source of entertainment for our generation.
With each new paragraph, new knowledge comes. More is the knowledge, more meaningful will be the life. All sorts of assets can be lost but knowledge is the one that is always with us no matter where we go. Shortly, the importance of reading is an undeniable truth and only a reader can correctly appreciate its value. Moreover, like people, some books may have deceitful covers. They may be consisting of misleading contents but it is not something to be feared because books are not there to believe in, they are there to let us know.
