I used to be a very avid reader when I was younger because novels were my thing, then I grew older and in came social media and out went the books 😅.
Reading itself is actually pretty underrated. There are a number of benefits of reading but it’s usually easy to ignore when there’s the internet, social media and all the other things that don’t involve you picking up a book.
So although, it might seem old-fashioned to talk about the benefits of reading because really, how many people still read books? I’m going to prove that reading has benefits that we choose to ignore.
Here are my top five benefits:
1. Better vocabulary:
Remember I said I used to be an avid reader? Because of this, my vocabulary improved immensely. I had to learn the habit of looking up words I didn’t recognize in the dictionary, although it took me a while to learn it because breaking away from a good book was so hard 😭.
I didn’t even realise it was my constant reading that enabled me to speak all my grammar until I began noticing that my vocabulary was deteriorating. Words that I used to know escaped me and I wondered if there was something wrong with my head until I realised why. I had stopped reading books so really, where was I supposed to learn new grammar?
You might actually not realise your grammar is better but it is because you’re learning.
2. Exercises your brain:
Does the brain need exercise? You wonder. Well, yes. Just like the body needs exercise, so does the brain. When you don’t exercise, you lose your form and become less fit; the same thing goes for your brain. If you don’t actively try to exercise your brain, time and time again, you’ll begin to forget things you’ve learnt and slowly become dimmer and dimmer 🙃. Why? Your brain’s unfit: no exercise. You don’t need to solve hard math to exercise your brain, just read a book.
3. Increases your knowledge:
The more you read, the more you know and it is said that knowledge is power so why not? Although some books might be works of fiction, there are a couple of things you could learn from them; I know I have. Maybe not in terms of locations (they make those ones up usually, heh) but in terms of mannerisms, food, culture, you get the drift. It helps to know stuff so you don’t feel like an airhead when an intellectual conversation is going on. Nobody likes a smart ass but you can also stylishly flaunt your knowledge 🙃.
4. Entertainment:
I know I’ve been talking about reading a lot and it isn’t fun for everyone but books can be quite entertaining especially if you have a good imagination. When I read, I usually can picture everything that’s happening as I read; it’s almost like I can see it and I’m there in real-time. This probably doesn’t happen to everyone but I’m sure I’m not the only one who feels like this when they read a book.
I’m trying to get myself to read again so to force myself, when my data finishes, I don’t subscribe immediately but instead, immerse myself in a book, online or hardcover. When I do subscribe, I usually feel like a new creature 😌.
So yes, movies, TV shows, and TV series might be entertaining but books are an old-fashioned way of entertainment; they’re old but gold.
5. Boosts your creativity:
Reading actually boosts creativity because going back to the point above, if you can picture yourself as part of the scene in a book, you can definitely picture yourself doing a couple other things and actually get ideas. I once asked someone who I personally consider extremely creative how she gets her wonderful ideas and her reply was that she reads.
She reads everything from pop culture blogs to news to books; she just loves to read and this, in turn, helps her to be creative. Since she told me that, I’ve actually been trying as much as possible to read practically everything I see because I also want to be full of creativity. Who wouldn’t really?
There are more benefits of reading, of course but these are my top five because I can relate.
It can be really hard to just pick up a book to read but you could try with a sentence a day and then, a paragraph, a page, a chapter and before you know it, you’re reading an entire book.
Although I talked about reading books a lot, reading isn’t specific to books; you can read anything you like. You can read newspapers, magazines, e-books, poems, blogs, online novels, anything. Just read. Because in the long run, it’s really for your benefit.
Let’s revive the reading culture again together 😊🤸🏼♀️!
A Slice of Seun 