Why You Should Read Regularly (2)

Ability to See The World
With an array of appropriate books, you can visit several countries, cities, learn about people and their culture just by sitting at your desk. You can learn why a food is more prominent in a particular country, why the natives dress the way they do and so on. In essence, you are exposed to the history and peculiarities of different people in the world.

More Robust Vocabulary
Since you encounter more words as you read, you are more likely to learn new words often, see how they are used in various contexts and the meanings they connote in these contexts. Reading, therefore, can help improve your vocabulary, especially when you go the extra mile of conscientiously looking up more uses of words you recently encountered. I can attribute some of the words I know to books and materials I have read at one time or the other. Another encounter with a word I saw sometime ago often comes with a picture of the context in which I first saw the word. This experience makes words stick with me as I can relate meanings to contexts. If you want to build a career in a particular field, it is an excellent idea to read more books relating to that field. That way, you get exposed to words, and you will be able to speak to people in the field more confidently since such words make their way into your vocabulary.

Excellent Writing Skills
Apart from building your vocabulary, you can also develop excellent writing skills by reading. You become aware of writing styles of several authors and thereby develop yours. This is especially helpful for prose - stories and other non-fiction. By observing the skill with which storytellers carve and build on their stories, skillfully infusing such elements as suspense, intrigue, flashbacks and the ability to make the story real and compelling, you will likely be influenced by these writers when you develop your own writings, same way artists influence one another in other works of art.

We live in a fast-paced world, where lots of information - both useful and unnecessary - is available in print, on social media and other sources. It will require some effort on our part to sift through these lot and gather useful information that can build our minds, open our eyes to words of wisdom and all the other benefits stated in this post and the previous post. Therefore, you must read with deliberateness - whether to relax and enjoy a good story at bed-time, glean from the wisdom of sages or improve your awareness of technological advances in medicine, engineering and the likes - you must define your goals for reading. That way, you can make the most of every second spent on reading. You must not be found reading haphazardly, with lots of information available to you but with very poor knowledge.

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Why You Should Read Regularly (1)

Reading articles , journals, fictions and non-fictions gives us access to  experiencing the writer's world where we are able to tap into his wisdom and explore his thinking. Many people whose existence predates ours or who we cannot meet because of distance can be a source of inspiration to us even if we never had the opportunity to sit under them to learn. You might never have met Solomon, Plato, Aristotle, Einstein, Newton, Apostle Paul or even Jesus, but their writings are a great repository of knowledge. The wisdom in their materials remain inexhaustible for generations to come. Like Solomon said in Proverbs 13: 20 - 'Walk with the wise and become wise; associate with fools and get in trouble'. Reading the works of wise men of all time will make you a lot wiser.

Reading also serves us the opportunity of  evaluating our opinions and presuppositions against those of the writer. We encounter people - in their writing - whose views challenge our views which may lead to us re-evaluating our long standing ideologies. More importantly, reading regularly may cause us to shift our paradigms which Steve Covey, the author of the popular book; Seven Habits of Highly Effective People defines as "The way we 'see' the world or circumstances - not in terms of our visual sense of sight, but in terms of perceiving, understanding and interpreting". He went further to say our paradigms determine our attitude and behaviour. Therefore, reading into the minds of other great people can shape our worldviews which in turn affects how we react to circumstances, how we relate with other people and our expectations from others.

Reading is also a good way to ease the stress of your everyday life or the worries that fill your mind. A novel, especially a page-turner can set you loose into a different world far away from where you are by taking your mind off your stress. You may find yourself reading about growing up on a farmland in Kentucky, the realities of survival on the Antarctica - eating raw meat, sea food, harsh weather conditions - or the tales of wayfaring men. Reading therefore can be a great way to calm your mind or as an effective mood-changer.

Furthermore, reading regularly helps stimulate the brain. Studies have shown that such activities as reading and writing if practised early in life and up to adulthood can keep the brain stimulated, preventing such occurrences as memory loss later in life. Author, Dr Robert P. Friedland opined  that “Just as physical activity strengthens the heart, muscles and bones, intellectual activity strengthens the brain against disease.” Reading - an intellectual activity - can  slow down the onset of brain related diseases such as Alzheimer's or even Dementia.

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The World of My Dreams (3)

I dream of a world where quality education can be afforded by not only the high and mighty but by all and sundry, where government participation makes basic education another fundamental human right. Where public and private universities can compete favourably in standard, quality of research, grants received and so on.

I dream of a world where food is plenteous, where fruits and vegetables are everyday portions of our servings, where we eat today's and not have to scavenge for tomorrow's. A world where human beings do not wait patiently for the next animal that will defecate just so they can pacify their hunger with its dung or where vulture hovers above without relenting, carefully watching  when this starved baby finally drops dead just so it can carry the carcase  far away for consumption. This sounds ridiculous, but it happens in the world we live in today. We live in a world where a picture of extremely malnourished children in a country ravished by hunger and famine whose parents can not afford a piece of bread worth 5 cents sells for thousands of dollars at an arts exhibition in Europe. A picture that should rather spur us to action.

These and many more are my expectations of my dream world. We might not completely resolve all these challenges, imbalances and problems identified at once, ranging from education, climate change, hunger, famine, money laundering, terrorism to religious extremism but we can make concerted efforts at addressing them and seeing them resolved as individuals, groups, societies, nations and governments. Our little 'drops' of actions might just make an 'ocean' of change.

End.

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The World of My Dreams (2)

I dream of a world where no human being will kill another in the name of religion, where people will be free to identify with whatever religion they choose, practising the same without jeopardizing the fundamental human rights of non-adherents of their religion. A world where no one snuffs out another's life because he doesn't share  his skin colour, nationality or religious persuasion is the world of my dream.

 I dream of a world where women are not prevented from associating with society or deprived of the opportunity to pursue their dreams in what ever field they choose, even those seemingly male-populated. A world where training a girl-child is not considered waste because she will end up in the kitchen or the 'other-room'. Girls are provided with toys that arouse their curiosity and stimulate invention and not only those that prepare them to paint their face or develop exceptional culinary skills. A world where parents do not betroth their daughters to men old enough to be their fathers at an age when they can't spot the difference between blue and black. A girl grows up only to be forced to marry this 'big man', a decision made long ago without her consent, that is even if she is allowed to grow to that age when she could have seen the wrong in this arrangement before she is sent to her Father. Sorry, her husband.

I'm dreaming of a world where terrorism is non existent. A world where people place inestimable value on their lives and those of others. Hence, the thought of loosing it or taking another's life become nearly unthinkable. I'm wondering the premium a suicide bomber places on his life, or that which a terrorist who uses children as suicide bombers places on the child's life and those of his victims. A world where no extremist group taunts the government with the abduction of vulnerable and helpless schoolchildren, where no one will conceive kidnapping the rich and/or the poor only to ask for ridiculous ransoms is my idea of a peaceful world.

I'm dreaming of a world where billions of dollars from already impoverished nations are not allowed to land safely in foreign banks in already prosperous nations by the bigwigs or constituted authorities who were supposed to manage the treasuries of their nations. They leave their people poorer and move with their families to more advanced economies to enjoy their loot. Only after investing the loot they gracefully received numerous years ago do the nation that received such consider returning some of these monies in 'bite-size pieces' after it must have lost much value. Only a world where stealing is tantamount to corruption can allow  for equitable distribution of resources.

I'm still dreaming. See my next post!

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The World of My Dreams (1)

I dream of a world where nations do not pride themselves in how far they have gone into developing (nuclear) technologies that could wipe another country or the entire human race in a twinkle of an eye, but will rather compete based on how well they have improved the quality of life of their citizenry who do not  live in constant fear of a neighbouring country. A world where technologies developed in more advanced economies can be marketed to undeveloped countries to deal with hunger, killer diseases, environmental pollution and climate change. The most damage done to the environment comes from the more developed countries while the least developed countries face the greatest challenge as a result of damage to the same environment.

I dream of a world where people will not be recognised by the colour of their skin, where you are identified as either African, Asian, American, Indian and not 'black',  'white', 'Negro'. In my opinion, racism will never be seriously dealt with if we still identify and call people by their skin colour. Addressing people by their skin colour will only evoke thoughts as 'black' meaning 'dirty' or 'white' meaning 'clean'. It will only make some people feel they are better while some feel less-human. We choose to say America's first 'black' President when we could have also addressed same as 'African-American'.

The world they say is a global village. More and more, business, tourism, career and such like have made people from different ends of the earth now closely knit together. People now relocate to different parts of the world for education and work, where they usually will meet people from different parts of the world. In a bid to settle down in their new location, many choose to marry and raise their kids in their new-found home. I dream of a world where people can marry freely across nationalities, continents, race or creed or religion without such events making the headlines or engendering forfeiture of one's privileges. Inter-tribal marriage among citizens of the same country still cause some people to raise eye-brows up till now! not to mention marrying someone from a different country or even continent. An American lady was once deprived of her stipends, personal savings, Car and even tuition by her parents because she was engaged to an African - American. Same way a lady in the UAE will lose her citizenship if she marries someone who is not an Emirati, not even her children from such union can secure the UAE passport or be eligible for any of the government's welfare benefits.

I dream of a world where some nations do not prosper at the expense of others under the guise of aids, funds and grants which eventually leave the aid-receiving nation much poorer than it was without the aid because it has to finance this debt on and on. A world where 1 unit of a country's currency is worth 5,000 units of another even though the latter has the diamond and gold reserves is not my idea of a 'balanced' world.  Natural resource are not explored in a smaller country, exported overseas only to return same product (although processed) to the originating country at cutthroat prices.

Am I dreaming of heaven? See my next post.

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Worry

Usually, we worry because we are fearful something bad might happen or has already happened. We act as though nothing can be done to improve the current situation. However, our worry most times does very little or nothing to improve the current situation.

You have just lost a job and so many pictures begin to arise in your mind. Thoughts of how you might wake up in the coming days and have nothing to eat or money to meet your most basic needs. You are torn between either calling those in your circle to complain and wail about the current situation and how life has been unfair to you, how your kids might have to stop schooling, how you gave that job all your best, your boss yet being unfair to you still chose to throw you out, or you can choose to move on, seeing the current situation as an opportunity to try new challenges, explore new areas and deploy your skills yet untapped.

Worry keeps our eyes only on the current situation depriving us of the joys of that moment. We lose interest in things that should usually make us happy, we lose interest in our relationships, sometimes we even lose appetite. We thereby keep ourselves at this disadvantage as long as the period of our worries last. This comes with a lot of inactivity because no progress is made at achieving set goals during this period.

How do you overcome worry?

First, you must know that things will not always go as planned. There are bound to be obstacles that disrupt our plans which we require us to re-strategise, re-group and create a new action plan. So when you hit a road block, instead of resorting to worry:

1.  Talk to a mentor/friend/senior colleague. This shows the importance of surrounding ourselves with like-minds. People who are not only there to discourage you but who are willing to share your burden and make you see another portion of the picture you have glossed over. There is no doubt you are limited by the information you have about what you are going through, so talking to your mentor or friend can make you see something else you have not thought about in dealing with the issue at stake. It can also be an opportunity to get expert-advise. You might even be referred to someone who could directly be of help.

2. Pray. Yes, Pray!
There is a quote I grew up seeing - 'Why Worry When You Can Pray'. Prayer helps us connect to God - at least in our mind, not as though God has not been there all time - to get the burden off our neck and also get a fresh breath of the assurance of His love. This will make us conscious of the fact that we are not alone and that God is aware of all that seem to bother us. I find this excerpt of the popular hymn very helpful:

O what peace we often forfeit,
O what needless pain we bear,
All because we do not carry,
Everything to God in Prayer.

So when next you encounter a roadblock, choose to pray, choose to cast the burden over to God. That circumstance only wants to steal your joy!

3. Consciously develop a positive attitude towards obstacles. You have to treat  every challenge as a test of your tenacity. You can choose to let the challenge plummet you or you attack it as another work-over.

Next time you face a difficult challenge, choose not to worry. It will only deprive you of the opportunity to relish every moment of your life.

You have other ways of dealing with worry? Drop it in the comment section!

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'Sir, Just To Start!'

This phrase resonates with me because it became a common excuse among my classmates back then in our Final year in the University (2015) especially during our Inventory Management and Advanced Operations Research courses. Both courses required us to solve real-world problems by deploying our analytical and mathematical skills. We didn't grab a few of the concepts at first.

We were usually given problems to solve after every lecture. After struggling with the problems, our lecturer who always felt all the questions were easy will look at us as though we were not just smart enough to be in final year. Just then you will hear someone say, 'Sir, just to start!' meaning we needed a little more explanation to solve the problem.

I have had to relate that experience to some aspects of my life. The fact is, I always have an idea of what I want to do,  big dreams, and many other 'light-bulb' moments but I have a challenge...just to start! I enjoy reading on a variety of topics especially success stories, inventions, innovations and about people, nations and societies that despise the odds to achieve their goals. I also love to write and I know I can be a great writer but I find it difficult to write when there is no deadline or when I don't have  someone to give me a topic to write about. Deep inside of me, I am aware that to develop my writing skills, I have to write very often so I can build confidence in myself.

I almost included writing an article every week as one of my goals for the year 2017 but I was scared I might not be able to keep up with it. What will I be writing about? Again, Just to start!

Thanks to Osho Samuel who started a page on Facebook (Writhaton) to encourage those who want to get past the roadblock of not being able to write consistently. The greatest push however came from reading Jayson DeMers' article on Forbes on 'How Writing An Article A Day Will Change Your Life (And Your Business)'. He shared lots of advantages of this task which I want to experience as part of my personal development. Among other things, he says writing an article a day will propel you to do a lot of research thereby making more information available to you, help build your vocabulary-base, keep you disciplined and ultimately lead to developing excellent writing skills. If you are able to put your articles on a blog (like I am doing) or on social media, you can increase your reach on the internet and improve your visibility. You can't imagine the audience who will now have access to the insights you share.

Now, I am not just going to write an article a week, but everyday! That is a big goal, but it is achievable. I have chosen to heed the advise of that Lecturer back then - 'start somewhere!'

I found a quote by John C. Maxwell that seem to be the driving force for me in the new year -

'You will never change your life until you change something you do daily. The secret of your success is found in your daily routine'. 

I find this very applicable to every area of life. You might not want to write an article day, but what is that thing you really want to see yourself do masterfully? The secret lies in your daily routine. You have to do something every day that contributes to your goal. You have to overcome that inertia!

A science student will quickly blurt 'Inertia is the force which opposes motion!' But to bring it home, Inertia is a tendency to do nothing or to remain unchanged (Oxford Dictionary). If you want to change anything about yourself, in your career, community or even nation, you have to break away from that tendency to sit still and remain idle. How do you do that? You have to set achievable goals, write them down, contribute to achieving the gaols daily and measure how far you have cone from time to time.

Do not sit back waiting for that push that will set you in motion, this article and many others is the push! Get up and start living your dreams! I'll see you tomorrow.

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