Busy is a four letter word. It can be a very good thing, but some days it's just pure evil. A standard day for me lately goes like this: wake up, work, get home and hit the treadmill for 2-3 miles (doctor's orders), grad school classes for 2 hours two nights a week, homework, make lunch for the next day, bed. Forget relaxing or doing something for fun like reading.
Right? Wrong!
We need to make the time, and it's a lesson we need to remind ourselves of over and over again because it's so easy to lose sight of. Last night, I was so excited when I found myself with a wee bit of free time in the evening because it meant I could continue to read the fantastic book I'd started the day before. I'll admit that I did get a teeny-tiny bit carried away because what was supposed to just be 40 minutes of reading before bed turned into going to bed 40 minutes late, but I simply HAD to finish the book (come back Sunday to see which book I'm talking about)! It was a mental vacation that I knew I needed, but didn't realize how fully that was the truth until I was doing it. I'm not saying that we should all read late into the night and neglect our other duties to work and family, but I do know that when I woke up this morning, my head was still full of this amazing story that I couldn't wait to tell the people I eat lunch with at work about.
So here's my proposition: if you can't read every day, at least try to carve out time a few times a week. Instead of TV listings, try having a reading listing. Mondays: watch Castle. Tuesdays: 30 minute episode of Last Man Standing and then follow that up with 30 minutes of reading, and so on and so forth. Study after study shows that reading is good for us, that it keeps our minds active and it encourages creativity. Therefore, it's in our best interests to make it a priority.
I'll admit that this isn't my most well thought out or eloquent post, but I just think this is an idea worth repeating. Coming soon, more gushing about how 2012 is so far shaping up to be the Year of Most Excellent Books That I'm Finally Getting to Read, fun times meeting authors and other bloggers, and other literary ramblings. Stay tuned!
Comments welcome and, as always, happy reading!
I hear you. It's tough sometimes to make out the time but it must be done. It's always good to have some down time to relax and so something fun and for us bookaholics, reading is that mental vacay we need, like you said!
ReplyDeleteGreat post! :)
Thanks for the comments, Jen! I feel like a little bit of a hypocrite, though. I really need to substitute the word "writing" here for "reading" because it's been ages since I've worked on my own stuff! All in good time, though =)
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