7 Benefits of Reading

Reading influences your mind and life in many ways. However, on the physiological side of things, it has been proven that people who are active readers are capable of increasing their neural connectivity.A

Additionally, on the emotional plane, it’s been demonstrated that when a person reads –mostly fiction –  their ability to understand other people’s states of mind and to feel empathy towards others is greatly increased.

The benefits of reading

Reading allows you to have new experiences. But how? Well, it’s simple. Literature, and especially fiction, has a grand emotional effect on the reader and makes it possible to feel emotions that may have taken them decades to discover otherwise, as well as experience empathy for the characters as the reader identifies with them across the length of the narrative.

Literature is a great simulator of reality. It’s like a time machine that instantly transports you to different situations and time periods, each with their particular traits and characters.

This helps us be kinder to others because it teaches us to see the world from another person’s perspective, and enables us to consider the consequences and issues that our actions could cause for others. It also teaches us the simplicity of virtues like kindness, generosity and sympathy.

Good literature has always been in opposition of hegemonic systems, which only seek to prioritize the search for money and power. Writers align themselves with an opposite concept of the world. They help us sympathize with the ideas and feelings that counteract the hypocrisy and antiquated attitudes toward the world.

Literature is a wonderful cure for solitude. Within a good book, we will undoubtedly find characters with which we can identify and subsequently, will discover the wealth of knowledge that is hidden along the length of the narrative. When the book is interesting, it calls for 100% of our attention, and the solitude simply disappears because the book becomes our best friend and companion.

Writers push us to open our hearts and our minds, because they enable us with the tools to free ourselves from the paranoia and feelings of being chased that so often invade our psyches.

Finally, I’d like to add that literature is also very useful because it helps us better prepare for failure. No one wants to fail in life, but between the pages of a good book, you will find tools that allow you to recognize that failure exists, and that it can be overcome and used in your favor, to make you stronger and eventually, able to achieve the success you so desire.

Reading is a wonderful habit for everyone because it’s benefits, such as the ones I mentioned above, are the same no matter what age the reader is, or what their condition may be. It’s obvious that every age group has their own preferences and necessities, but the results are the same, regardless.

Think of literature as an elixir that helps us go through life with a bit more wisdom and grace. So, if you have the chance to read a good book, don’t take it for granted.