Reading maketh a full man, conference a ready man, and wiring an exact man.
Francis Bacon
It has been said that if a man is forced to stay inside the four walls of his house without any company and comfort, he can seek solace in the company of books.
I myself experienced this when I was forced by my doctors to go through a quarantine period. I was so frustrated and exasperated but I decided to turn to the company of books.
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So during that time I had the privilege of going through many worlds and meet new characters which I would have been unable to do.
Here I have tried to enlist a few of the numberless benefits that a reader can accrue while reading:
Why Is Reading Important in Your Life?
Following are the accepted benefits of reading in a man’s daily life.
Reading Provides You With New Perspectives
Reading opens our minds and we come across unaccustomed perspectives, listen to unheard voices, and come to know about new visionary opinions.
In fact, we remain oblivious to the visions which are rendered possible to fetch only through reading. I had the privilege of feeling that the feelings inside us untethered and unfettered by time are allowed to express only through reading.
When I started reading I felt that infinite boundaries of time and place tend to evaporate once I opened the pages of the books. I had the opportunity to meet Emily Dickson, Bronte Sisters. I had the privilege to come across Pip, and Estella. I met Amy, Jo, and Beth in Little Women. I noticed how Jo faced tribulations and faced them to become an independent woman and writer.
Cultivates Imagination
Reading ignites the imagination of your mind. It is the imagination only which sets you apart from all other inanimate things. Imagination is the power of your mind to conceive of what you can become and what you can not become. I got in me a figment of imagination when I read Shakespeare. I found myself walking with Desdemona and jealous of Othello. When I went through Macbeth, I sensed the conspiracies being hatched against King Bunko.
It Creates Creativity
The foremost benefit of reading is that it awakens your creativity. You become able to conceive a whole world with living characters for you. When you go through the pages of A Winter’s Tale, you get the idea of how creative the mind of a man can be.
Reading Makes You Smart
When you read various books, you become aware of a lot of historical events. You can not remain oblivious to all the past events. When you go through the pages of A Tale of Two Cities, you become aware of the French Revolution. It makes you smarter.
It Awakens Empathy and Sympathy
Once a writer said that when you read books it makes you able to empathize with the fictional characters which in turn awakens your sympathy. In this age full of science and logic, sympathy has become a rare commodity. But when you turn over the pages and go through Khaled Hosseini’s Kite Runner you feel great sympathy for the Afghan people and their suffering. You feel your sense of empathize kindled due to the novel A Thousand Splendid Suns.
It Opens your Mind
An avid reader has found new horizons of the world which remained unconquered and unknown till now. He readily accepts new perspectives, visionary ideas, and revolutionary opinions.
It Sharpens your Cognitive Memory
It has been medically proven that reading often helps in sharpening your mind and memory. That’s why doctors often recommend the old to read to remain mentally active and sharp.
Reading Provides A Outlet For Your Emotions
It is a proven fact that reading provides catharsis for your full-blown emotions. When you read Hamlet, you feel sorrow at the ill luck of this young man but at the end, everything becomes known to the reader and thus works as an ultimate outlet for your emotions.
Your Aesthetic Sense is kindled
When you go through the works of Shakespeare, GB SHAW, and John KEATS, your aesthetic sense is kindled and you become aware of the great masterpieces of literature and you appreciate their abstract beauty.
An Awareness of Current Issues
An avid reader becomes aware of the daily issues prevailing in our society but we tend to evade them. We get in touch with gender inequality, climate change, terrorism, and poverty through great artworks like Tess by Thomas Hardy in which the issues of women have been discussed.
It Enhances Your Vocabulary
When you read a new paragraph, you find new words which you have never known before. In this way, you become able to express your expressions in precise language.
Conclusion
To sum up, reading makes you a full man who is able to cope with the daily hardships of life successfully. Meanwhile, it makes you aesthetic.
