Saturday, November 6, 2021

Be An Author Challenge (Part 11) – What Reading Does To Your Mind

I'd already prepared the article I wanted to post for this weekend until a thought bumped into my mind. It was about reading. I began to think about the power of reading and how crucial it is for everyone of us to be doing it. I know this is not a new subject. Neither is it what many of us are not familiar with. But how often do we read? I know we can have one thousand and one reasons for not being able to read. But I want to let you know that you will do yourself more havoc by not reading than by losing a million dollars. This may sound outlandish but it's not.

When you know what reading does to your brain, you’ll know this is not an exaggeration. When you read, your mind is open. You begin to visualize and conceptualize ideas. Your problem-solving skills will also improve dramatically. And to be an author, you've got to be a reader. Reading is the only method of learning that allows your brain to process what it's receiving all by itself. You begin to imagine and picture the words, and as you do that, it sparks some reactions in your brain that increase your mental capacity. It is more or less like you are making your brain to go through a mental exercise. And for real, you are! 

"A reader lives a thousand lives before he dies... The man who never reads lives only once." - George R.R. Martin

When you read, the results are mind-blowing. I have read sometimes and I would think of some things that are not directly connected to what I’m reading. Great ideas and mind-blowing solutions have come from this. I have got better understanding into things that were initially unclear because I was reading. All these could make us understand that reading charges up our brain, and hence our mind.

What reading does to your brain is far more important than what you do with the reading.

Apart from the fact that we gain knowledge and ideas from what we read, what we read has direct influence on our minds. When you see some people who are so vast and intelligent, and you wonder if it is their talent or brains that have fetched them those qualities, it is because they've committed themselves to long hours of reading and learning. Ralph Waldo Emerson said - "If we encounter a man of rare intellect, we should ask him what books he reads." And research has shown that practically everyone of us is genius in our own way. But that ingenuity is only expressed mostly by hardwork and less talent. 

Talent will not do the reading for you. No matter how talented you are, you still have to do the reading by yourself. And when you do it, that’s when talent will work. That’s it! Reading helps us to discover ourselves, utilize our gifts, and unleash our potentials. Many people will not know what to do until they pick a book and read. There have been many accounts of how some people have solved their problems, did great things, and changed other people’s lives because they read books. 

Reading (in form of learning), is by far, the most life-transforming activity that you must always commit yourself to do. I know many of us still think - "If I'm not in school or preparing for exams, why should I read?" This is because we've been taught wrong about reading. We've been thought reading is just to give us information to get grades and acquire certificates. 

But, it's far more than that! 

For those that will have excuse not to read, if you have time to eat, sleep or use the rest room, you have time to read. Let me mention here that reading could be hard to do when you are just starting out. But the moment you are used to it, you will not want to stop doing it. 

So, here is the deal - start with reading little things. Read what you are interested in, and commit to doing it everyday. It could be as short as 5 mins, or as long as an hour or few hours. There’s no limitation to what you can read or feed your mind with. Knowledge has no limitation. And every knowledge has its own usefulness. Don’t limit yourself to where you are now. Learn more. Read more. And you will do more. I see you making big impact in your world.

If you want to start reading good books and expand your mind and imagination, I invite you to join our team of great readers. Write to bookminds247@gmail.com. If you also want to write and publish a book, you can write to us as well.  

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