Why Read?
I do not get angry easily. But I have something that I need to get off my chest. I know a young mother who is teaching her toddler to read. She does a great job at every opportunity to expose the baby to books. However she does not read herself. At Christmas when given a book as a present, she re-gifts the book and says “Thank you for trying to make me read, but no thanks.”
This is when I get infuriated!!! What the heck? You are trying to teach your daughter to read yet you don’t believe in reading yourself? What hypocrisy! What BS!
To live life without knowing the meaning of life is like wandering through a great library without touching the books. To live a life without reading is like saying I am perfect, there is no more room to improve, I don’t need anything from the wisdom of others. Last but not least, to refuse reading is like saying “Thank you for the expensive education but I would like to return to the life of an illiterate person.”
I get it. Today people do not have time to sit down with a great big book anymore. Our busy lifestyle have placed many urgent demands on us. Demands that are urgent and important such as picking up the kids, buying grocery, paying phone bill. But ask yourself if you want to be a 24 hour taxi-driver /laborer /administrator /cleaner /maid /babysitter? If not then look at your urgent tasks again. Sad isn’t it?
The only way to break out of the cycle of living to survive is to better yourself. The only way to achieve your full creative potential is to benefit from the wisdom of others. One of the best way to do these things is to learn from books.
There are many alternatives to opening a big heavy book nowadays. You can read E-books, you can listen to pod casts, you can download audiobooks(my favourite). A simple trip to your local library will open all the possibilities to you.
The point is, a person should never stop improving oneself. The day you stop improving and learning is the day you stop growing. Pretty soon you will drift away from the people who are growing. Before you realize it, you will be a toddler trapped in an adult’s body. You will have all the pressures of an adult’s life with none of the necessary tools. The only job open to adult-sized toddlers is 24 hour demeaning manual labor.
The real sad truth is that the mother I met will eventually be outgrew by her own daughter. If the daugher continues to read she will eventually find her mother unstimulating and uncreative. The young goose will spread her wings and never to return. Now isn’t it much better to be a growing mother goose and fly along side of your goslings on their adventures. Isn’t it much more wonderful to discover the grand mystery together as mother and daughter? THAT my dear readers, is what I call a Great Life.
As always, I appreciate your thoughts. Please comment below.
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