“If you do not read, you are missing out on a great way of learning as well as a wonderful way of improving your life and business,” states Sandra Idossou, in her latest edition of the famous “ServiceMag.” After reading this, I could not think of a better topic to be discussed this week. It clicked in my mind that the need for the culture of reading to develop within our society is SO great and requires serious re-consideration. Not just for business but for everything else! If you’re asking how I could possibly have come up with this resolution, take a closer observation around you, compare the number of people who will come and tell you about any information saying, “I read about it.” What’s common is the crammed, “I heard about it,” and we all realize that many would rather ‘hear’ second hand information than read it. In many schools, it’s common that you’ll get someone asking the other about information that is about two weeks old on the school Notice Boards! Also, aside from reading as a mode of communication, but as a source of knowledge, it is even poorer. Fewer people now want to read books in general; both educational and recreational. A few know that by opting for this path, they deny themselves the chance of broadening their scope of understanding the things beyond their imagination. Mr. Ben Carson, a Pediatric Neurosurgery in USA, urges us in his inspirational book ‘THINK BIG’, to love reading. It was one of the things that changed his life completely. He testifies of how, just like most of us youngsters, all he ever loved doing was watching T.V, playing with his friends, dressing to literally kill, making sure he was noticed as an untouchable among his peers… and that’s about it. One day, his mother decided to change the rules and instructed Ben and his elder brother Curtis, to read two books and produce a written summary on them each week. As much as the boys were convinced their mom had officially ended their lives that day, just two months later, Ben saw his grades rise from the bottom of the class, which he’d even grown famous for, to the very top! Simply because he usually knew something extra on his lessons and in general knowledge compared to his classmates, through reading! We ought to know that there is much more to reading than we think. Let’s wipe out the ridiculous mentality that suggests that reading is for girls and the boys who read are ‘sissies’ or that it’s too tiresome (I mean, no one sweats after reading a book). Idossou goes ahead to put out the main point that, “reading helps in developing your mental capacity. Reading stimulates the brain, instructs, informs, entertains, motivates and inspires. Reading is a powerful way of upgrading one’s knowledge…” Don’t miss out by not reading. The world around you is seeking your intellectual strength and reading is the key to achieving that! Ends
