"Reading. . . . Or Skipped?"
______________________

It is quite amusing how we overlook some of the Most Important, Fundamental Abilities that we have- only realizing their Importance when we are Deprived of it. I say this from my personal Experience a year ago, while opening the Jar of Jam, I opened it with some power that the lid burst in my hand, and then I saw that my finger started bleeding. I got a bit deep cut on the Left Hand’s Middle Finger and although at first I felt lucky for it was not the Right hand(since I am a Righty)otherwise fI would be in a whole lot trouble-this did not seem that great either. My typing Speed was reduced Drastically that I was getting so angry and frustrated; I was unable to lift weights from my left hand as there was a feeling of Extreme Poking Pain in the Finger and whatnot. This blog, as you saw from its Title, isn’t based on Typing, nor the topic of Wounded Fingers or Slow Typing Speed-but ratherly, on the topic of READING!

LIFE WITHOUT BEING ABLE TO READ?

Just imagine what would happen if you could not Read! Like, imagine you somehow wake up one day and forget the Language English(or whatever it be that you use the most throughout the day). Unable to read, most of the World around you would seem to be but a Stranger-in this Fast world where all rather MESSAGE and carry on, all your work would be dependent on someone who would read all the things written on the Screen to you, and then would have to write it so that you could send messages. Also, while travelling to a new place, directing yourself around would be a whole lot Troublesome because unable to identify from the Signboards where you are, where You heading, and the fact that you are on the correct path or no-just think what life would be?!

So, I assume you got the Essence of Why it is So Important but I know what comes next-most of you would now be saying- “The Odds of You waking up the Next Day with Me Forgetting HOW TO READ are thinner than Getting a Million Dollar Bag on your Bed when you got back from Home!” and yes, this is true, but I want to argue, DO YOU EVEN READ? 

DO YOU EVEN READ?

Like, I won’t deny that once you have learnt a language well enough, it is close to impossible for you to forget that for the rest of your Life. But, the problem doesn’t arise with reading-it arises with the BRAIN that is SET TO READ! I have written this so many times, that in the present world, we all have started to face the problem of a REDUCED ATTENTION SPAN-all thanks to the New “Shortform Content” that is helping us be a slave to the Mindless and Wasteful Content, where we are virtually imprisoned for long waking hours of life(don’t trust me, well, how many times did you look around, or even thought something else before even reading this line-and I feel, the attention span is so low that many of you might not have even made it till here-I speak by Statistics!). Our brain has now started to get accustomed to the fast-moving life so much that it is losing the ATTENTION SPAN, and the hunger to fulfil the insatiable ENTERTAINMENT is what adds the fuel to this-ensuring it never ends!

Just think, when was the last time when you were bored and then, you did not have the feeling of taking out your phone or any other electronic device to escape the boredom?

THE EQUATIONS WE ALL MAKE!

I won’t wander off by talking about HOW BOREDOM IS ACTUALLY GOOD FOR US, but yes, just for FINDING WAYS TO AVOID SMALL TIME OF BOREDOM, we are unconsciously training our brain; the brain loves the Feedback Learning way- forming the small equation which then transforms into a Reflex Action, if the action is prolonged-in this case, BOREDOM = UNPLEASURABLE = PHONE = ENTERTAINMENT = PLEASURABLE. This is the very reason when you get the smallest feeling of boredom, which usually hits before the Deep Focus on any topic, your brain sees the EQUATION, and this is what ends your Attention span and makes you more prone to this(like, I have always found that before I enter the Zone, or start the Deep Work, my Brain usually gives me a small shot of Boredom-just to check whether I am ready for the Deep Focus or no-and this would happen with almost all, if I am no exception in case, unlike many other!). So, when you FEEL that boredom, since you have been training ourselves with the Equation that Boredom = Phone = Entertainment = End Boredom, you never actually do what you were supposed to do, and end up doing some Random thing that has no ROI!

ADDRESSING THE ELEPHANT IN THE ROOM

Having said READING IS IMPORTANT, and some things related to that, I would like to point out one of the Biggest Reasons WHY YOU SHOULD READ!

See, right now, while I am writing the Blog, I am literally scraping my mind and ACTIVELY trying to get into my head all the learnings and the experiences that I have had related to this Topic. While lots of you would say- "All I see is a set of Alphabets forming Words, Words forming Sentences, Sentences Forming Paragraphs, and these Paragraphs forming a long, well-written and planned blog"; to the true and rather experienced eyes, they are, but PURE GOLD(this is not self-praise, but, an in general thought for Informative Blogs, Articles, and Books).

You see, I have said this lots of times- “Experiences and Our Outcomes are a Collective and Compounded Result of all are Decisions, from the one of thinking to drink a Glass of Water, to even the biggest of you Making a Million Dollar Investment, all these together form a PATH-a Unique Path which only you can traverse and experience!” 

So, we all have the chance to live and experience a Unique Path, but we all know that many times, there would be things that are common to almost all the other path-walkers and thus, at least knowing WHAT NOT TO DO would INCREASE YOUR ODDS OF NOT FAILING and EXPERIENCING LOTS OF PAIN in that path! And, books are the best Guides-just think, when you read a Book, you are not just reading a Collection of Pages that bind to form what we call a book, but it is rather a JOURNEY-A JOURNEY that has BUILT SOME PERSON’S THINKING. There are chances that you Might Know more, and there are even more chances that you know nothing that the Author knows, you could never be at a loss while reading. In the worst case scenario, you prevented your Mind from being distracted and helped it practice Deep Working in a world where Deep Work is rather Rare; and in the Best Case Scenario, you Learnt something-something that might have taken you days, if not years to know and learn through a much Harder Process. Thus, I see that READING BOOKS, or ARTICLES as one of the few things where Investing your time is Actually Worthwhile, and has a really great ROI; Quoting Robert Kiyosaki- “It is WHAT YOU KNOW that is your Greatest Wealth. It is WHAT YOU DON’T KNOW THAT IS YOUR GREATEST RISK!”

CONCLUSION-THE FOUR HEADS

To sum things up, Reading is a CRUCIAL HABIT which, although we all know, unfortunately, since it is a HABIT, we are not working to IMPROVE-IT, and letting the bare minimal habit of reading work for the rest of our lives. We should try to Improve on WHAT, HOW, and HOW OFTEN WE READ and the QUALITY OF IT. Some of the perks of Improving your Reading Skills are:-

1. Increases Focus Span(the biggest perk in today’s world where the average Attention Span is just 8.25 seconds than a Goldfish)

2. Helps Understand things

3. Provides a Whole New Perspective of some Things(Perspective of the case from the Author’s Point)

4. Increases Knowledge and Ability of Actively Thinking

PS: A PEEK OF HOW I TRAIN MY BRAIN WHILE I READ

You see, many people and my friends often tell and recommend me some Fictional Books, but I refuse to read them. The reason is not that I HAVE SOME PERSONAL GRUDGE against those Fictional Writers(to be honest, for most of my childhood, I read lots of Fictional Book Series from Diary of a Wimpy Kid series to even the Goosebumps and a few Geronimo Stilton-and yes, back then, I did enjoy reading them that gave me moments of happiness and enjoyment). The reason I read NON-FICTIONAL books now is that I got to know a bit about PSYCHOLOGY and LITTLE BIT ABOUT HOW THE BRAIN FUNCTIONS.

You see, our brain is good at associating things(as I said earlier as well). So, if I associate READING = PLEASURABLE ACTIVITY = JUST CHERISH THE MOMENT & ENJOY. Later, when I would actually want INTENSIVE and FOCUSED READING in order to learn my Courses and all, I would find it difficult to catch that Rhythm, and when I would see the EQUATION break, I would be Wanting to end that activity! Thus, I read Non-Fictional Books, books that always TEACH SOMETHING-and thus, I try to make the most of my Associative Brain by giving it the General Equation of READING = LEARNING SOMETHING NEW = FOCUSED & ACTIVE READING.