For those who love reading, it is easy to get lost in a good plot or an article filled with interesting new information. For those who are not avid readers, it seems better to avoid reading time in pursuit of other activities that may hold more interest. Either way, many people overlook reading’s importance when it comes to building everyday skills that can improve your life and the world around you.
Spending a few minutes reading each day is a great brain workout. Not only are you introduced to the occasional new word and concept, but your brain works to relate to the characters or material presented onscreen or on the page. Being introduced to a situation through the printed word is a safe way for you to explore your own reaction to an event or idea. This process expands your ability to relate with the world around you quicker and with less stress. It also gives you the opportunity to change your reaction in order to achieve a different result. This exercise in critical thinking may simply be good fun when you are substituting ingredients in an online recipe to avoid an allergy or telling your favorite character not to follow the creepy person in the trench coat, but it trains your brain to automatically apply the skill in the real world as well. Good critical thinking skills are the key to finding opportunities and avoiding dangers.
Reading also builds your imagination. Fiction and non-fiction alike encourage you to create a mental picture out of the words in front of you. This allows your brain to reach out from those words so that you can live vicariously in the fictional world or wonder at an alternate use for the latest scientific breakthrough. The modern world is built on imagination. Everything from our sanitation system to the device you are reading this article on was born in someone else’s head. If you read enough, maybe you will be the owner of the next amazing idea.
And let’s not forget that the quiet world of reading creates better communicators. When you read examples of good communication you learn how it should be done. This means that your next office memo, novel, or love letter to your sweetheart will have just the right wording to really get the message across. Better communication builds a better world. You can start showing off your reading inspired word skills by contacting us with any questions or comments.
