IS READING A MUST?

 I have learnt reading since the day I set foot on school. From learning my ABC to reading philosophy. It has been a long way of reading for me. Of course, I admit that I had not loved reading the way I do now. It was a long journey. I should rather say that it was a roller coaster ride. There were days, and many of them, when reading felt like a burden to bear. The best option was of course to skip reading. But how many precious times and lessons I have lost when I didn’t read? I think I have lost countless ones.

Can I redeem the past? Or can I redeem reading-time lost? Of course, there is always a new beginning. You can pick up a simple book now that you can easily finish in a short period of time, then enjoy your journey from there.

But why should you read? Let me give you at least three important reasons for you to think seriously about reading and make it your priority in life. First, reading helps you know your story. Life is a story, and so is yours. You did not come into this world from nowhere. You are part of a grand story of life. Your story is what shapes your life now. It is how you perceived the world around you. You may not know it, but you do what you do because of your story, be it good or bad. There are things in your story that you need to understand and deconstruct for a better life and a better tomorrow. You cannot just remain from where you are. But the way to progress is to know your past.

Second, you now live in a world of vast information. There is so much information out there. In fact, you can be lost in a vast ocean of information if you don’t know your way. People become victims of wrong information for their lack of knowledge. As the Bible rightly says, “People perish for lack of knowledge.” Knowledge is important to life. To live effectively in today’s world, you must be a man or a woman of reading.

Third, reading helps you think. It is amazing that this activity of reading has the capacity to stimulate our mind to think. We are thinking beings. But thinking needs discipline. It needs exercise as our body does. You won’t be able to think best if you don’t know how. When you don’t know how to think, somebody will do the thinking for you. Believe me, as you are reading this, somebody is thinking for you. Well some think for your good just as I hope I do, but countless out there think to take advantage of you. I cannot be there for you all the time. You have to learn how to think yourself.

So, is reading a must? It is. Pick up a book and read. Have fun with your new life.