As my life has become a little more hectic in the past years, I’ve noticed a trend. If I go for a few days without reading, I’m more likely to stress out and/or feel like my life is going nowhere.
I miss the high school and college days when I had more time to sit down and crack open a book. As the years of my 20s go by, I have had to sacrifice my reading time for things like building my business, taking rush jobs, writing time, housework, yardwork, walking the dog, spending time with my fiancé, more exercise than I ever had to do in my younger years…the list goes on.
The stress builds until I just sit there, clueless as to how to conquer it. And then one day I realized it had been a few days since I had even opened a book simply for the sake of pleasure. I found an hour or so in my schedule to devote to reading, and the stress started to melt away. My outlook on life got better. Sometimes it takes a book to remind you that you can do anything you set your mind to.
Books truly soothe my soul. I’m not suggesting that reading can take the place of actual, professional therapy, but for me it comes pretty close. There are still times where I get into a hectic phase of my life and lose my reading time. But when I eventually circle back to it, the results are pretty magical.
I am very grateful for what reading books has done for me. I hope you experience the same kind of magic.
Yesss I relate to this so much! I found it so hard to find time to read for fun in college/grad school, and now that I’m out I’ve made a point to read more, especially before bed. It’s so much more relaxing than being on my phone and I feel so much better!
Ah, I’m not alone! I really need to get into the habit of reading before bed. And putting my phone down.
Well said! Reading is a great way to relax and relieve stress. A while back, I made it a point to read a book for 15 minutes before bed. It’s helped me sleep much better! 🙂
Awesome! Now to implement the reading before bed strategy 😉
I literally just wrote a whole post about books as well. Books are magical, mystical portals we should all visit more often.
A thousand times yes!