How Reading books did not change my life but changed my perspective!
The best advice I have ever received is READ!! It will change your life. But it did not change mine!
I have never considered myself an avid reader. Occasionally a book would find its way into my hands, but reading wasn’t a significant part of my life. Last year while grappling with health challenges, I decided to incorporate reading into my daily routine as means to divert my mind from the physical pain.
The Charm of Bookstagram
To hold myself accountable, I ventured into the world of bookstagram, where I quickly fell under the spell of its aesthetic charm and the allure of other bookstagram accounts. Like many others, I succumbed to the influences and found myself mindlessly collecting books to create my own library, all in the pursuit of taking beautiful pictures and joining the bookish conversations.
The pressure to keep up and feeling burnt out
However, I soon found myself feeling the pressure of keeping up with others who were devouring 15 to 20 books a month, a pace I simply couldn’t match. Despite the fact, I still managed to read 50 books in 6 months only to feel burnt out at the end and entering into a reading slump for next 4 months. It was that time, when the harsh truth stuck me that though I was not a avid reader but I was happy with whatever few books I read infrequently.
The breaking Point
Frustration set in, so I decided to give up reading entirely. I even started to feel annoyed with myself for succumbing to the pressures of Bookstagram. It was then, during one of my journaling sessions where I poured out my thoughts about this reading journey, that I had an epiphany. I realized that despite all the advice out there encouraging people to read and claims that it can change lives, it hadn’t changed mine.
I lost sight of my original purpose for reading but found my turning point
One glaring issue was that I failed to articulate my thoughts clearly after reading because I was caught up in the race of quantity rather than savoring the essence of each book. Moreover, despite reading a multitude of books, I struggled to remember much from them. In essence, I felt like I had wasted countless hours, neither enjoying the process of reading nor gaining any substantial insights
Amidst my reflections and rants in my journal about “ why even I thought of starting this habit? “, But it was this simple question that helped me shift my thinking and habit.
Rediscovering my purpose
I had initially turned to reading as a means to find enjoyment and distraction, a way to shift my mindset from the problems I was facing towards healing and personal growth. However, the allure of Bookstagram and the pressure to keep up with others had sidetracked me. I realized that I had started on the wrong foot. I had read to achieve numbers, to finish books and post on Instagram, rather than to savor the process or learn something meaningful.
Most of the times, we forget why we start anything in our life and the purpose behind it and very easily fall prey to trends or popularity. We get so involved in pleasing and competing with others that we fail to take care of our own self.
This moment of truth changed my whole perspective towards reading. Now since past 2 months I have built a consistent reading habit that matches my purpose and my intentions to read.
This was my experience with Reading!! Tell me if you ever felt the same in life.