When was the last time you picked up a book or magazine? If it was in school, then you are way overdue for new material. Our brains are starving for new information and so are you even if you don’t know it yet.

Some people love to read and others don’t. The problem could be with the reading material. We all have our favorite genres and magazines. Other material is boring to us.

Take the opportunity to find out what type of reading ignites your senses. Reading a good book is like entering a new world of sight and sound. Our imagination conjures up the scenes and we watch as the characters play out their parts. It can seem as real as a memory.

Everyone should have the experience of reading at least one book like that. Through books we visit new lands and learn tidbits of facts. How do you think those people on Jeopardy win so much money? Those tiny tidbits of information are not trivial but enhancing if it accentuates your life in some way.

Pick up a magazine and scan the table of contents for an interesting story. Read it and see what you learn. Try to find something new to read each day. It could be an article in the newspaper, magazine, or reading a book by a favored author.

Reading increases our vocabulary too. They say that most books are written with eighth grade reading comprehension in mind. If the words are too hard, people will skip over them or stop reading. Either way, they have missed out.

Maybe there is a stack of books in your room that you were meaning to get around to but have not as yet. Take an hour or two this weekend or in the evening as you unwind for bed and begin to read. Let the words on the page push away all of the pressures from the day. Open your mind to new ways of thinking.

Reading a little each day keeps the mind sharp. Our brains go numb from lack of regular stimulation. Getting those reading muscles going again makes a big difference.

Have you ever been stuck for an answer and thought back to something you read? Whatever passage it was held the key to solving your problem. Without that knowledge you would still be there waiting for someone to help you out. Instead, you helped yourself and those around you.

Learning to read and then actively continuing to read stretches our brain in new ways. We may even learn to think “outside the box.”

Submitted by:

Linda Allen of GirlfriendsCafe.com
http://www.girlfriendscafe.com