REASONS TO READ

Make Me Time

Most people read books as children and when they became adults, not so much. For years, I was in that category. My busy job kept me at work twelve hours a day, six days a week. There wasn’t any more energy left in me after I drove home, cooked, cleaned, showered. My head hit the pillow and the sandman caught me, pulling me into dreamland.

The never-ending cycle of responsibilities sucked the time away. One day I decided to slow down. No one on their deathbed ever wished for another seventy-two hour work week.

The books were waiting, collecting dust on the shelves. If I didn’t start reading, I never would. Sight can’t be taken for granted either. Vision can fade away with the next birthday. I can make several arguments about why people should read.

1. Life is stressful. Stories are a diversion.

2. Reading keeps your brain fit and helps fight off dementia. Wilson RS. Boyle PA, Yu L, et al. Life-span cognitive activity, neuropathologic burden, and cognitive aging

Neurology. Published online July 3 2013.
http://n.neurology.org/content/81/4/314.short

3. Children and parents can bond and make life-time memories by reading together.

4. Books make us think, expand our vocabularies, entertain, and educate us.

5. If no one ever reads, writers might stop writing, depriving the world of brilliant stories.

My favorite books are the ones that make me forget I'm in a crowded airport or some other unpleasant place. Written words send me on a journey and become a movie in my mind. Try going on a mental adventure sometime. Pick up a good book, and you won't miss television or the commercials. 





http://n.neurology.org/content/81/4/314.short