READING OVERKILL - by Jefferson Nnadiekwe

Today let's talk about why reading is dangerous. That was a hook, a bit of an over exaggerated statement to pull you in. There are countless benefits to reading and nobody can dispute that. We know some of them; reading broadens your mind and perspectives, introduces you to new words and expands your knowledge on history. These are a few among many others of the upsides to reading. Now that we agree on that, let's get back to the first line of this write up. Having clarified that it's an over exaggerated statement, we would however not discard it completely. I bet you might be wondering what I'm about to ramble on about and if ever there's a con associated with reading. There is actually one small thing, whether or not it can be classified as a con is up to you. Walk with me. A couple of years ago, I used to pride myself in how many books I went through in a month. It was reinvigorating to spew the knowledge accumulated from this hobby any and everywhere I went. But there was one little problem, I got so engrossed and wrapped within a world with these books that I may have started to lose touch of reality - because let's face it, you can read all the books in the world, but reality can be a tad different. And if you can't recognize when one ends and the other begins, you could find yourself left behind in an ever changing world. Take for instance self help books (which was my favorite kind of books at a time), they are filled with various tips and guidelines on how to navigate life and certain specific problems. However, real life has time and time again proven that following those tips wouldn't always yield the desired results as advertised. This is not to say that they don't work, they do. It's just that most people who indulge in them for some reason don't know when it's time to take action. I have met a couple of people who can quote word for word the chapters and tenets of financial help books, but struggle with their own financial breakthrough. Forget those people and take me for example. Once upon a time, I would get all the self help books I could lay my hands on. Ironically it was at that time I arguably struggled with finding my feet the most. Now you can say I didn't implement it and you could be right. It all comes down to the point that maybe I had my head facing the pages for too long that I forgot to look up. This is possibly hogwash to a lot of people reading this, but think about it. Really, how many walking encyclopedias have you come across who give you the vibe that they haven't figured out their lives. Quite a few I guess. This is because these people have immersed themselves in books for too long that they've lost touch with how the world works. Frankly, what's the point of gathering all that knowledge if it can't be translated into success or some kind of achievement. It's not just self help books, fictional novels too can have the effect of delusion if you allow yourself get lost in its pages. The chief culprit being romance novels. Readers so often forget that what they read in romance novels are figments of the author's imagination and not cold hard facts. There are delusional folks who go about searching for qualities of a fictional character, in a real life human. In summary, they develop a distorted sense of reality. This is not a campaign against reading in any way, it is however a call for balance. It's okay to look up from the pages of those books once in a while and acquire another kind of knowledge - real world knowledge. Don't be that guy or girl whose only contribution to a dilemma is a quote from some book. Know when to take action and implement what you've read.  I dare say that the aim of reading isn't to become too absorbed and storing up information in your head, but using that information to improve your life and maybe the lives at others at large.

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