A Book-lover’s Path Towards Happiness

“It really doesn’t matter what book you read. By losing yourself in a thoroughly engrossing book you can escape from the worries and stresses of the everyday world and spend a while exploring the domain of the author’s imagination.” – David Lewis

The wise and old people have always said, “Books are man’s best companion.” Books enlighten, entertain, give knowledge, and inform us. Whether we read printed books or e-books, their importance cannot be neglected. They fill our lives with pleasure and hope. It is believed that when we read, we are in the presence of the best and worthiest minds of all time.

Unfortunately, the present generation is less likely to believe in reading books and has stopped going to the libraries. The libraries are being replaced by the idiot box or “smart” phones. In this digital era, books are gradually losing their charm. Young adults mostly talk about their favorite pop artist or actor, but rarely someone would have their favorite author or poet. While quite the opposite, if a person develops a habit of reading, he will invest his time productively and learn something new after each page. Also, reading does not have any adverse effects on a person; therefore, reading books should be made a vital part of our life.

The poet Robert Southey has delightfully called books his never failing friends with whom he converses every day.

What happens while we read?

Reading might seem to be an ordinary task, which requires us to run our eyes throughout the page. But it is more than you can think. Research says, there are various other processes performed by our minds in the background which gives us knowledge and satisfaction we want. Visualization is one thing, which is involuntary while reading. Through this, the reader simultaneously imagines the whole new world as the words are pieced together. The study also states that there is no distinction made by our brain between reading about an incident and literally living them.

Fiction books are capable of pulling the readers in and build connections and empathize with the protagonists throughout. They can sabotage the reader’s personality through the plot twists. A few hundred pages relating to them can be challenging when the book inevitably comes to an end, affecting the link with the reader severely. In such cases, when you have been completely engrossed with a book, you might be said to have experienced a “Book Hangover.” You could generally experience this after a book you couldn’t let go or after a cliffhanger conclusion.

According to a scientific society, people who can read can educate themselves in any area of life they wish. The present age is overflowing with tons of data and information. Critical reading is the best way to justify further details. Reading is one of the best categories of self-education for everyone, irrespective of their age.

The significant number of benefits which affect your life positively are:

1.Improved memory and concentration: While reading a book, you are focused only on the story. Everything in your surroundings seems to fall apart, and you cherish every fine detail you instill. You have to remember various characters, backstories, nuances, and plenty of arcs and sub-plots intertwined through each book. That is a lot to remember, but our brains magnificently work through it to make utter sense.

2.Stress reduction: Though you have a lot of stress in your life, everything just slips away when you indulge yourself in a good story. A nicely written novel can distract you from the stressful chores and tensions and allows you to be in a present moment. A study found that reading for at least 30 minutes daily lowered heart rate, blood pressure, and psychological distress as efficiently as yoga and meditation.

3.Helps alleviate depression: People with depression often feel isolated and secluded from everyone. These feelings can be reduced by books. Books help build confidence, self-esteem, and communication. Fiction allows you to temporarily elude from your own world and experience the life of some character. Similarly, non-fiction or self-help books guide you to live a happy and positive life.

4.Helps sleep better: Doctors recommend that 10 minutes of reading before sleeping can be the way to get a sound, peaceful, and longer sleep and wake up happy and fresh the next day. For finer results, you should go with a printed book rather than an e-book, since the light from your device might keep you awake.

5.Vocabulary expansion: When you read, you are exposed to more words, which helps in greater understanding. Being well-spoken and eloquent is an excellent tool in your profession and being able to communicate with superiors confidently will kindle your self-esteem. Books also give you an upper hand with new languages, and non-native speakers can gain exposure to new words, which helps in their own speaking and writing fluency. Reading an hour every day will enlighten you to four million terms per year.

Obviously, the benefits you get from reading are more significant than listed above. The importance of reading books cannot be over emphasized, but you could go for book summaries, e-books, and audio-books for a change. Just curling up on the couch with your special hardcover can be the most peaceful pastime and incredibly rewarding. Moreover, try to visit your local library often and show more love. There are millions of words bound magnificently waiting for you to read.

The habit of reading is not quite easy, beginners may struggle a bit, but I would encourage you to not give up. Just 10 minutes of reading on a daily basis will give its fruits in the meantime. Lastly, reading is joyful (with almost no cost).

A reading related goal can be easily added not only be added to your vision board but also your annual goal, e.g. I’ll be reading 12 books a year, one per month”.

August has just started, am confident that you will read 5 books minimum from now till the end of the year.

Jayati Purohit Member since June 15, 2020

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Jayati is a final year Psychology student at University of Mumbai. She intends to pursue Clinical Psychology and Performance Coaching to work with people from all walks of life. She is a practicing Numerologist. Other than this, Jayati is either found with books, binge-watching thriller TV shows or movies. She also likes to curate Psychology based articles.

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