Seven Benefits to Reading

Whether we came to love reading at five or at fifty, the experience has become a significant and treasured part of many people’s lives.

Here are seven of the most common reasons why.

1. Reading dares you to grow.

Reading is an exercise in perseverance, in which you constantly challenge yourself to achieve more than you did with your last book.

2. Reading allows you to experience multiple realities.

For brief moments of time, books release us from the constraints of our own reality. They take us beyond our world and into someone else’s real or imaginary one.

3. Reading challenges your perspective.

When you experience life through the eyes of another, you encounter diverse angles on life’s most common situations. Talented authors will naturally inspire empathy for their characters, and empathizing with viewpoints different from your own can feel uncomfortable. Extremely uncomfortable. While reading doesn’t mean that you’ll agree with different perspectives, it does offer you the opportunity to understand them.

4. Reading helps you remember.

Reading isn’t only about discovering the new. It’s also a vehicle for reflection. Many bibliophiles can trace their love of reading back to a cherished memory. Re-reading favorite books, or reading about familiar places, times and people helps us recall the details of our own lives. It reminds us who we are, where we are and how we came here.

5. Reading helps you forget.

Chronic escapism is by no means a healthy habit, but neither is dwelling on stressful life circumstances one hundred percent of the time. In short doses, allowing your mind to focus on things other than your challenges can be highly beneficial and even necessary. Reading, like exercise, offers a safe, healthy and productive replacement for negative thinking. It gives your mind a safe place to rest until you regain the strength you need to overcome your obstacles.

6. Reading means you don’t have to be alone.

Whether it’s through the comfort of a favorite book or through an emotional connection to relatable characters, books provide a stable source of companionship during the times that you feel the only person you can count on is yourself.

7. Reading brings life.

If you’re a book lover, chances are that you’ve experienced reading to be a rejuvenating activity that renews your energy and elevates your mood. Numerous book lovers have testified that reading gives them purpose, helps them persevere through difficulty and unlocks parts of themselves they didn’t even know existed.

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For all of the reasons and more, reading makes us feel alive.

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Do you have more reasons why people benefit from reading?

Post your comments and answers below. If you think someone has an interesting point of view and answer, please invite them or share this post with them.

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