Reading as a powerful skill

If you were given the choice between the power of flying, invisibility or being able to read, which power would you choose? As intriguing as the first two might be, I think reading wins hands down in terms of granting you access to the wisdom of the smartest people who ever lived.  Reading might just be the most powerful skill a person can have. Readers can see the world from the viewpoint of someone else, protecting you from the mistakes and untruths of others as well as your own ignorance.  And most importantly, reading has the power to transport you to different places and different periods of time.

The courage to be curiosity

Curiosity drives one to know what is not easily apprehended. It takes courage to go where your curiosity takes you. Good readers are curious people, they strive to know. While reading an essay on the significance of reading in a person’s life, I came across an anecdote of a child who dares to ask big questions. Like a mountain to be scaled, such a child can look a question in the eye and does not let fear foreclose their looking and seeing and understanding.

Reading encourages people to tackle the big questions as we vicariously inhabit a story. The best of stories are a route to scale the mountains of questions. Not all  ‘readers-travelers’ know the route and books are a great help since they contain the choices of so many other explorers and mountain-climbers. They are the ones who can point out the best trails and reveal the most secret passages.

So if you want to  stare the enormous question in the eye, you’ll be glad you brought some books in your backpack.  The person who reads holds this world of exploration in their hands.  Through curiosity they come to know, like the highest peaks in the world, questions love to be scaled and pondered.