Books are Our Best Friends Essay
In this time and age, claiming that you read books may stir shocking glances and remarks from people around you. Don’t worry, it has always been this way since the concept of reading and writing began. However, unlike the ancient times where reading and writing was a rich man’s affair, nowadays anybody can get access to books.
The irony is that majority of people do not want to read books. Reading is so unpopular to the point that people would rather grapple in life, ignoring the fact that whatever they are seeking is more than likely in books. It is actually a fact that our world leaders, the richest people and all the people who make a difference on earth are avid readers.
Books are my best friends- not because I’m socially awkward and I’m unable to get human friends. It is because books carry a lot of treasures that no human being has. You can have a friend that is caring and loving, but completely lacking in the intellectual side of things. This is why I need books: to compliment wherever my human friends lack. Books have their own limitations also.
For instance, you cannot just coexist with books alone, you need people around you so that the treasures you have acquired from books can be manifested. Even though most people fail to admit it, but all the advancement we have made as a human race would not have been possible, if it were not for books. Here are reasons why books are our best friends.
The first reason books are our best friends is that they bring out the best in us. Books make us better, if not great in whatever professions we have chosen for ourselves. They do not want us to fail. It is quite absurd to rely on our flailing memories, as they lose their power as we age. To grow or maintain the same proficiency in our various vocational fields, we have to consult books.
Doctors have medical books and journals they refer to regularly, lawyers have law books, so do judges, politicians, teachers, architectures, actuaries, engineers, etc. In fact, for you to have qualified for any profession you need to have passed through books. Unfortunately, for most people constructive reading ends when they get college degrees and the only reading habits people have nowadays revolves around Facebook updates and tweets.
Secondly, books stimulate our minds. Our brain muscles can only be exercised and made stronger by reading books. The same way an inflated ball requires air or vehicles require gas to move, our brains also need books to be effective. Failure to train our brains continuously may lead to lose of proper decision making and critical thinking skills and in some severe cases, may lead to Alzheimer’s disease and Dementia.
Thirdly, reading is a stress relieving activity. Reading is a hobby that keeps us entertained. Although they lack in the visual aspect of movies, books make you picture whatever is written on your mind. This actually improves your imagination.
Albert Einstein once said, “Imagination is more important than Knowledge.” It is true that when we are knowledgeable, we are only limited to whatever we know. But, when have an imaginative mind, then our minds have limitless potential. We are more creative and more attuned to problem solving.
When you read a great story, your mind is transported to the fantasy world of books. Your mind abandons all the things that keep it stressed for the duration you will spend reading the book. This relieves it of stress, such that when you snap back to reality you have a better chance of dealing with the stressful issues in your life.
They also equip us with knowledge. To be useful in society, we need to be extremely knowledgeable in any field that interests us. Books have all the knowledge we require in our lives. There is so much knowledge that we cannot exhaust all of them. It does not matter which career path you choose, even if it is in its infancy, there is always something you can learn from books that were written previously.
The good thing about knowledge is that it can never be taken away from you. Once you acquire it, it is yours forever. Books also increase our vocabularies and improve our oratory skills. Books improve our speech and give us confidence to express ourselves articulately. People with poor vocabulary range are rarely taken seriously and when it comes to promotions, workers with excellent oratory skills, mastery of language and a good reservoir of vocabularies have a higher chance of consideration, than their less impressive colleagues.
Books further help us in self-development. Our lives are basically divided into four main areas, social, economic, political and spiritual. There are books in all these areas. Socially, books help us relate well with people. How? You may wonder. Simple, the skills mentioned above have positive effect on how we relate with people.
For instance, with good decision making skills, we may looked upon as leaders and in the process, we may be called upon to make pivotal decisions that may be for the well good of our societies. Politically, we are more likely to be familiar with our rights, freedoms and civil duties, that is, if we made it our culture to read the constitution and other law books.
Economically, books open a window of opportunities for us inform of jobs and also equip us with the courage to pursue the entrepreneurial path. There are also financial books to help us come out of debt and learn investment tips to help us accumulate a bit of fortune for ourselves. Spiritually, there are many religious books and self-help books specifically written to help us reconnect with God and become better people. Religious books shows us how to pray to God, how to come out of sinful lives and how to relate with people in accordance with God’s laws.
They give us hope, courage, faith and to look forward to the life after death. Religious books help us understand the spiritual life and to answer questions that science has been unable to. Self-help books cater to our physical needs. They give us tips on how to improve our physical lives. Examples of self-help books include cooking books, lifestyle magazines, Do-It-Yourself (DIY) journals, and workout books.
In addition, books also improve our memories. Think about it, when you read a book you have to remember all the characters, plots and subplots and all the fine details in the novel. What is amazing is that when you make it a habit to read each day, memory synapses are created to accommodate the vast amount of information streaming into them.
This improves your memory, as your brain is able to retain a lot of information. Furthermore, reading improves focus and concentration. Reading makes us have a habit of concentrating on one task at a time until it is completed. This habit actually improves our productivity in the long-run, as we get used to the behavior of focusing on one task until it is finished.
Moreover, books improve our writing skills. Exposure to other writers’ literary works can improve how we weave words together. Writing is among the endangered art forms, especially in this social media age, where people are embracing emojis, memes, and short forms to express themselves. We need more writers now more than ever, to dilute this world that is on a crushing course to dumbness. Lastly, books can actually prolong our lives. When reading a book that excites us, the brain produces dopamine, the chemical associated with pleasure. In the process, the brain is relieved from stress.
Now, if we were to read every day, then our brains would be in a state of pleasure for several hours a day, which is good for our health in the long haul. Furthermore, books take away the stupidity that is associated with ignorance. It is quite unlikely that you will find a well learned fellow participating in life threatening activities. Books actually help us think before we leap. An avid reader talks less, listens more and is not likely to get into scuffles, unless he has no other option.
The saying “if you think education is expensive, try ignorance” sums up the importance of books very well. Ignorance has set the human race back for so many years. For many centuries, people were subdued by kings and few of their cronies and as a result, they were subjected to a life of poverty and misery. The kings had one powerful and secret strategy, they kept education away from the people. Many people have been redeemed from shackles of slavery thanks to books, including colonized indigenous people of Africa.
If someone has your best interest at heart, you refer to him/her as your best friend. It goes without saying therefore that books are our best friends. Books are good to us, they make us better. Apart from occupational training, they also improve our lives in the social, economic, political and spiritual realms of our lives. We should therefore embrace books fully. Even if we dislike physical copies, there are digital format of books, such as EBooks and pdfs that we can order online. So, sharpen your mind by reading a book today.
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