Why those who read books will always rule those who watch TV

This is the confession of a true bookworm. Annie Müller is a self-confessed journalist, writer and blogger: "I'm addicted."

All this has been happening throughout my life - from childhood until now - she says. – Maybe I should stop? No, there isn't. I will go back to the bookstore, the library, I will go back to my endless list of e-books and my bookshelves overflowing with books. They know me. They love me. That is all, what i need. Why should I stop?

Why don't you start? When one reads more, life changes. See how it all happens.

1. You will find a safe way to escape from the problems, stress and boredom in your own life.

You don't need to resort to antidepressants or alcohol. Buy books or download free e-editions - it will work out cheaper. Immerse yourself in history, in another world. Move from your head to the characters head. It's fast, economical and mobile – it's your personal emergency exit when the world gets too heavy. And who will look down on you for simply reading books? I won't tell anyone what's really going on. I promise.

2. You will discover that you have a family.

To know. You have parents, brothers, sisters and a whole host of other relatives. And maybe not. Maybe you feel alone in this world. And abandoned. Whether you are like this or just feel like you don't fit in with your own family, become avid readers and you'll find a wonderful new family. It is a global, huge and completely open family. The family of readers. People who love books. Literary addicts. The bibliophiles. Become one of us and you will find out soulmates in every corner of the globe. Of course we have a secret signal, sort of like a family handshake. Just pick up a book and start reading. That is all.

We will see you. We'll find out about you. And we will always be there for you when you need us.

3. You will become part of an endless global conversation.

Books are something through which the past communicates with us. And not only that - they are a way of communication between cultures, countries, social strata and groups. Books allow us to enter other lives, other worlds quite unobtrusively, but at the same time to immerse ourselves completely. This is amazing.

And if you've never wanted to be someone else, to go somewhere, to experience something you couldn't experience in your own life, it's all in books. What are you waiting for?

4. You will learn to speak beautifully.

Reading is the most painless way to increase your vocabulary, improve your spelling and expand your grammar knowledge.

Read on and you'll be able to smugly chuckle when your friends make basic spelling mistakes in their social media statuses. And you will be able to fix them. You will become the "grammar tyrant" you always dreamed of.

5. You'll love the queues, bus stops and waiting rooms.

This can really become a turning point in your life, trust me. Instead of pacing nervously, groaning and sighing, or showing your anger and displeasure in all the usual ways, you can just… read. You take your book out of your bag or pocket and you already have entertainment, communication and intellectual stimulation - three in one.

A friend of mine says that reading gives her the ability to be happy anytime, anywhere, even when the wait is unbearably long.

It's a super power that everyone needs.

6. You will get up much better people.

You may feel like it, but the people around you won't mind. You may never have been a victim of racism, violence or poverty. You may not know what it's like to suffer from unrequited love. You may be someone who criticizes more easily than sympathizes. Reading won't change that completely (my "critic meter" is still in good shape after decades of constant reading), but it will help you think before you judge. And sympathize without thinking.

Because when you experience other people's lives through books, you will begin to see other people's stories in the world around you. Stories you never knew about.

You will have a little more understanding. A little more interest. Less "we're against" and a lot more "we're all in this together."

7. You will learn many things.

Even if you read fiction, you can learn a lot about cultural influences and attitudes, about history, about fear and human psychology, about the different manifestations of the spirit, about the consequences of wars, about how robots take over the world and tricks, with which superheroes manage to keep their capes clean.

This is all very useful information.

Want to learn more? Read non-fiction, biographies, contemporary documentaries. Just kidding, you might as well skip the current affairs books. Instead, read historical literature - this way you will understand much more about modern times.

Philosophy, psychology, memoir, DIY... Whatever you're interested in, you can find a book on it. Even a whole series of books. And if you don't find it, maybe you should write one.

8. You'll find out you were a lot dumber than you thought.

When you weren't yet addicted to reading, you thought you judged unbiased, didn't you? Admit it! I won't laugh at you. You thought you knew a lot, you had a broad outlook on life and a pretty accurate idea of how the world worked.

Then you started reading. Maybe the first books didn't change the situation. They most likely kept you in your comfort zone. And then a member of your new reading family has advised you, “You must read this! It's incredible, really.' And you've heard it.

And suddenly you understand - what seemed familiar and known to you, and what you were 200 percent sure of, is actually not exactly so. And then you feel your brain start to crack. And when the light seeps into the crack, you see the true state of your mind—cloudy, dusty, and full of assumptions and conjectures.

You keep reading, and the gap gets wider. One by one, the assumptions begin to disappear. The light is getting stronger. The air is purified.

You begin to fill your mind with all sorts of things - pictures, stories, ideas, information. Poetry. Fragments of life that you have experienced through books. Emotions that did not belong to you, but that you felt as your own. Real things from the real world instead of a collection of assumptions and expectations.

9. You will discover the creative beginning in yourself

When you fill your mind with fresh material from all these books, something extraordinary begins to happen. Your mind is waking up.

In fact, what is creativity? – this is the skill of making connections. All these people whose ingenuity we admire are in the business of making connections. They have a large database without worrying about its storage. They allow poetry to permeate science, allow faith and history to move together. They understand that everything can overlap.

We are used to attaching labels to everything that gives us some illusion of understanding things, but often this is counterproductive.

Reading helps us break labels. Reading helps fill your mind with any amount of sources and allows you to mix up a lot of wonderful things to get something new.

10. You will develop your imagination and stop worrying about being weird.

When you read a book that is the product of someone else's imagination, you begin to trust and use your own imagination more.

What a wonderful idea - to use your brain in all its weird, scary and crazy potential.

Reading helps with that. If you think you're weird, just start reading something in the realm of surrealism or science fiction and you'll soon feel like a completely normal person.

Naturally, you will want to read more. And you will. And then your own fantasy will mix what you read with real life, add all this to your unique collection of information, experience and education. Who knows what this could lead to?

Don't you want to know?

Well, why haven't you opened the book yet?

Source: www.gnezdoto.net