By Elli from NeedtoRead
Everyone strives to be more positive, happy, and healthy. It’s a goal we all have in mind, and subconsciously try to work towards day by day.
But what if I told you that reading isn’t always just a pastime, and can actually help you obtain this goal?
#1. Different Points of View
When you’re reading a book, each character will have a different point of view about what’s happening as the story unfolds.
You get to choose what side you’re on based on all of their perspectives and ideas, which is a good tactic to use in reality, as well!
This will help you to understand what other people are thinking in your daily life, and find solutions for yourself based on the different perspectives of the people you interact with.
Being able to sympathize and understand someone else’s point of view of a situation will help you become more positive, understanding, kind, and hopefully give you a better outlook on life.
#2. Inspiring Characters
Have you ever read a book and been inspired by your favourite character to change your habits to more positive ones? To use your kind heart to help others?
Books always find a way to impact how we behave, and the outcome is usually a positive one!
Inspiring characters will help you figure out what your goals are, and what you value most.
#3. Someone Understands You
There’s something about reading that can really take a toll on what you think about yourself.
I used to have a lot of social anxiety, so much that I would even avoid interacting with my closest friends, for the fear that I would embarrass myself.
I began to become more attracted to books as a way to vent my feelings, to become friends with the characters that felt like they didn’t fit in, the same way I did.
Over time, I began to feel my confidence increase. Knowing that how I was feeling was more common than I thought, I was able to fight back, and gain more control over my fear of talking to others.
#4. More Educated
If you want to be more educated about the world around you, reading a variety of books is a great way to learn more.
From reading both fiction and nonfiction books, you will learn more about how the world works, how people think, and more, based on what the book you’ve read is about.
There are millions of books on different topics, so there are definitely some that you’ll be interested in; maybe you’ll even find a topic that you didn’t know you were passionate about until now!
#5. A Feeling of Community
For every series of popular books, there’s always a fan group somewhere. A great place to find people who like the same books as you is through social media!
Talking to other people, even if they’re strangers, about a book that you enjoyed will give you the feeling of community. You’ll also get the opportunity to learn about people from other countries and walks of life, since most online fan groups are international.
#6. Discovering What Really Matters
While reading about a character’s life, you might begin to think about your own on a deeper level.
What’s most important in my life? Who do I want to be?
Reading about fictional people finding themselves will, in a way, inspire us to work towards doing the same. They give us the confidence to keep going, to keep pushing out of our comfort zones until we finally reach where we wish to be.
In the end, we know that reading can’t make us more positive on its own, but it can certainly help. What do you think about reading? Has it helped you somehow?
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Great post!!
Thank you!
Reading makes us alive…. I think so….
Your right, it does! 🙂
I love reading. Takes you to a different world.
I agree!
Good post. 🙂 It does also matter what you read as well though. 😉
That’s a really good point! Though all kinds of books can affect you in some way, reading motivating and positive books or a story that you really enjoy will be more beneficial to your optimism and happiness.
This resonates with me. I try to make time for reading every day and I find this helps me to be flexible in terms of tone and content, as I write very different content for different platforms. Thanks for sharing.
That’s so great, I’m glad that reading helps you!
Absolutely right
🙂 Thanks!
I agree with all of this, it is nice to escape, sometimes through the perspective of someone else. I have recently read Catch-22, such a strange, comical, but ultimately tragic novel. Despite the rather odd chronology, you certainly go through a roller coaster journey with the protagonist and come out of the other side having learnt something about yourself and the world during wartime.
Maybe I should try reading that book, it sounds interesting!
Love reading it frees the mind an broadens your horizons great post
It certainly does 🙂
Great topic you have chosen.
Thanks, I’m glad you like it!
Reading also strengthens our empathy muscle. In order to truly understand the characters, we put ourselves in their shoes. Great post.
That’s right, reading makes us more empathetic towards our characters, thus helping us understand people in reality, as well! Thank you 🙂
A person who reads lives a thousand lives!!
Thats so true!
I completely agree with these reasons! I relate with #3 so much!
Thanks! 🙂
Reading’s good for many things; I can lose myself in a good book when I don’t want or can’t face the world and everyone in it 🙂
Reading is amazing 🙂
I love it too 🙂
Reading has so many benefits in our lives.
Don’t we all agree that to be a good writer, you need to be a good reader as well?
We believe that too. Happy reading folks.
Best wishes from The Strong Traveller family!
You’re right, reading really does benefit our lives 🙂
Yes absolutely.
Very powerful and true
Thanks!
Over the period of this pandemic, I’ve read a couple of books that have taught me quite a lot. Reading is fun and I don’t plan on giving it up anytime soon.
Thanks for sharing!
That’s great! Thank you 🙂
Very true words. Reading has such a powerful effect.
Thank you!
I don’t need any convincing to read more. But this was a great post. As a writer, I also feel that reading improves your writing style too.
Thank you! Reading has helped me write with more passion and detail than I once did, so I agree with you 🙂
I love reading it gets me in a different headspace! Great post.
Thank you!
Great Post. Good points. One thing you learn as a writer is when you not writing READ! READ! READ! Blessings and Peace.
Thank you so much!
Depends on what you read, though. When I was younger I went through that phase where I thought it was brilliant to expose myself to opposing viewpoints so I read every book that Bill O’Reilly and Ann Coulter had written at the time. I didn’t feel particularly positive afterward. Lmao.
That’s true, thanks for sharing! Though it was a fantastic book, I didn’t feel very positive after reading 1984, that’s for sure 🙂
Great content! Excited to read more of your posts! I just started my own lifestyle blog and could use any and all advice you have for new bloggers! I published my first post yesterday just talking about me and my blog goals… check it out if u have time and leave a comment on feedback! Thank you so much!
Cheers,
Jenna
Congratulations on starting a blog! I’m new to blogging as well, but PoojaG’s blog is amazing, and I’m sure you can find some posts on her blog that are full of great advice!
Hi Eli! Thank you for the recommendation! I’ll definitely check out her blog! -Jenna
Hi! Firstly, welcome to the blogging world and I actually have a whole section of advice posts on here that you can check out here: https://lifesfinewhine.com/category/advice/
This was such a well written post – I really agree with every single reason here. I love exploring new worlds, cultures, and ways of thinking through books. Also, I’m a firm believer that education is key to enriching life and reading can really help to improve one’s capacity (and excitement) for learning.
Thank you so much! Reading is such a great way to learn and feel inspired, and education is really important 🙂
Thank you for sharing
🙂
I read about 12-15 books a month.
That’s a lot of books! I’m glad you enjoy reading 🙂
I love this post and I hope it inspires people to enjoy books as much as I do 🙂
Thank you so much!
My pleasure 💕
As a big lover of books, I thought this post was amazing. Thanks for featuring it on your blog Pooja.
I’m glad you enjoyed my post!
It was great!
So glad you enjoyed it Leo!!
<3 🙂
I agree to you: “Everyone strives to be more positive, happy, and healthy.” Reading is like a workout for our mind to keep it healthy and alive.
Reading really does keep our mind happy and healthy, I’m glad you agree!
I can really relate to point one and point three. The different perspectives of each character whenever I read has been one of the key factors for why I remain an open minded person in almost every situation I find myself in. And to get a particular character that projects my point of view, thus one that understands me, helps in many ways because I later get to know the pros and cons of that perspective as I read the book further.
I’m glad you agree, thanks for reading my post! 🙂
Absolutely brilliant post. Thank you. Reading is so vital, and central to building us into rounded people. We can learn so much from the words / thoughts of others through fiction, poetry, blogs, comic strips, academic articles, non-fiction, autobiographies, etc etc.
And when, for whatever reason, you are unable to read then ‘talking books’ are perfect.
Great way to open up the debate.
Glad you enjoyed the post and I absolutely agree!
Thank you so much!
As a book blogger and bookworm myself I totally agree that reading makes us the people we are. I have found through reading that I am more sympathetic and more empathetic than most people. It’s also a nice little escape from reality. It’s so hard to explain to non-readers (like my partner) why I love reading so much and all I can manage to say is ‘it’s like your own movie in your head’. I will definitely show him this post!
Hope he gets a better idea of what bookworms feel like! Reading has always been an escape for me and I have always appreciated it. Glad you enjoyed the post!
I’m glad you enjoy my post! Reading is really special, and I hope everyone gets the opportunity to find a good book.
Reblogged this on .
Thanks for the reblog!
I have 6 ebooks on the go. Then the family got a puppy. 😳
I’m getting back to reading come hell or high water. Because there is nothing quite like it to transport you away from negative thoughts and pessimism.
As far as the puppy is concerned…let them house train him. 💩😉
Haha yes keep reading!