DAY 20: A Hobby of Yours...
It's no secret that I love books and I love to read. Since I was a toddler, my Mom and especially my Dad had always promoted the benefits of reading and I quickly learned how to read on my own at a very young age and felt like I could take on the world with that ability. From the moment I could read, I consistently had my nose stuck in a book more times than not until at least high school age. From 7-13 years old, I distinctly remember carrying one book with me everywhere I went, just in case I had the opportunity for a few stolen moments to conquer another page of words. My Dad would take me to Borders bookstore on the majority of Sundays between 10-18 years old, to allow me to browse the books alone while he did the same, for hours on end. He'd even let me purchase books quite often; which felt like gold to me. Through positive reinforcement, he turned books into something that I treasured deeply and allowed me to explore and learn through books endlessly.
As I grew older into high school age, a growing social life, academics, and extracurricular activities reduced my reading time, but I still continued to read as much as possible. When college began, that was the start of a long drought in my life without reading. The high rate of reading for classes left no chance to read for pleasure and for 5 years, I was not able to read more than a few books that were not academically-related. Believe me when I tell you that I definitely felt the effects of that drought. I always had a deep sense of something missing from my life and voiced this concern to the closest of friends. It was something that always mattered to me and I never let it go. The day that I finished my last final exam of college when most kids would be jumping for joy at finishing a grueling four year mind-numbing experience, all I could think about was how I would finally be able to read for pleasure again and be able to enjoy words and books, instead of having to read pre-determined book topics that always felt like a torturous chore of obligation.
Three years later, I am happy to say that I am back to reading regularly and know that reading is the one love of my life when it comes to hobbies. There is nothing like getting lost in a book and being able to forget about your physical environment and the competing thoughts in your mind and lose yourself in something that is unbiased and uninvolved with your day-to-day life. Nothing makes me more excited than to buy a new book or to look through the continuous growing collection of books that I have acquired throughout the years. Reading is such a gift in life and now that I am older, I have come to realize that I adopted my parent's love for reading as a hobby. I grew up in a house where my parents had books lining bookshelves that were installed in every available space of the house, like the staircase landing, the hallway, and numerous bookshelves in each room. I'm proud to say that I have this one trait from all three of my parents and appreciate what a gift they have given me, cause I firmly believe that my deep love for reading has influenced many aspects of my life for the better.
It's no secret that I love books and I love to read. Since I was a toddler, my Mom and especially my Dad had always promoted the benefits of reading and I quickly learned how to read on my own at a very young age and felt like I could take on the world with that ability. From the moment I could read, I consistently had my nose stuck in a book more times than not until at least high school age. From 7-13 years old, I distinctly remember carrying one book with me everywhere I went, just in case I had the opportunity for a few stolen moments to conquer another page of words. My Dad would take me to Borders bookstore on the majority of Sundays between 10-18 years old, to allow me to browse the books alone while he did the same, for hours on end. He'd even let me purchase books quite often; which felt like gold to me. Through positive reinforcement, he turned books into something that I treasured deeply and allowed me to explore and learn through books endlessly.
As I grew older into high school age, a growing social life, academics, and extracurricular activities reduced my reading time, but I still continued to read as much as possible. When college began, that was the start of a long drought in my life without reading. The high rate of reading for classes left no chance to read for pleasure and for 5 years, I was not able to read more than a few books that were not academically-related. Believe me when I tell you that I definitely felt the effects of that drought. I always had a deep sense of something missing from my life and voiced this concern to the closest of friends. It was something that always mattered to me and I never let it go. The day that I finished my last final exam of college when most kids would be jumping for joy at finishing a grueling four year mind-numbing experience, all I could think about was how I would finally be able to read for pleasure again and be able to enjoy words and books, instead of having to read pre-determined book topics that always felt like a torturous chore of obligation.
Three years later, I am happy to say that I am back to reading regularly and know that reading is the one love of my life when it comes to hobbies. There is nothing like getting lost in a book and being able to forget about your physical environment and the competing thoughts in your mind and lose yourself in something that is unbiased and uninvolved with your day-to-day life. Nothing makes me more excited than to buy a new book or to look through the continuous growing collection of books that I have acquired throughout the years. Reading is such a gift in life and now that I am older, I have come to realize that I adopted my parent's love for reading as a hobby. I grew up in a house where my parents had books lining bookshelves that were installed in every available space of the house, like the staircase landing, the hallway, and numerous bookshelves in each room. I'm proud to say that I have this one trait from all three of my parents and appreciate what a gift they have given me, cause I firmly believe that my deep love for reading has influenced many aspects of my life for the better.
This is so much like me! Always had a book stuck to my face. I even walked home from school while reading in some years. My most significant desert years were when Buster was 0 - 5 years old. I never got to sit down or sleep, let alone read LOL! It was huge when he learned to read himself and I could actually pick up a book again myself. Also I was glad when the grad school work was done so I could read fiction again. You are right, it is a wonderful gift from one's parents to instil that love from a young age.
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