Into the Habit of Reading and Not Reading

“We are what we repeatedly do. Excellence, then, is not an act, but a habit.” 

– Aristotle

If we do something for long, we get into the habit of doing it; likewise, if we do not do it for long enough, we may end up in the habit of not doing it at all. Habit, as the Cambridge Dictionary defines it, is something that you do often and regularly, sometimes even without knowing that you are doing it. Many might think: habit, however good or bad, is only something that you regularly do; something you do not do regularly is not a habit; perhaps you do not have this habit due to having another. Well, if you regularly do not do something means you regularly escape it, be it wittingly or unwittingly. 

Whether we read regularly or not, almost all of us find reading to be an excellent habit. At least here, we are all, funnily enough, into the same habit—the habit of finding reading to be excellent. This arouses the question: Why do all of us not read books, albeit we all want to gain excellence? Let us try to dig up the answers. 

Reading is one of the childhood habits that parents and family members pass on to or inculcate in their children. Children are the best imitators. They do whatever they see people around them doing. Most children usually speak in the same manner as their parents do. If we observe closely, we will find that between the parents, a child mostly imitates the parent he/she spends more time with. The habit of reading is an outcome of this imitation as well. 

Some parents with vast knowledge of parenting play way smarter roles in getting their children to start reading books at an early age. It is no wonder that children, blessed with such parents, develop the habit of reading books quite early. But what about those who were not born in such an ambiance and are no longer in childhood? Should they just put all the blame on themselves? No! It’s not a fault at all. But one must realize its importance and imperativeness, as prominent author Ruskin Bond puts it “those who do not read are the unfortunate ones. There is nothing wrong with them, but they are missing out on one of life’s compensations and rewards.” 

You may not have the habit of reading, but, for sure, you know the importance of it and want to have it yourself. Still, why can you not? Because you have long got into another habit – the habit of not reading, which is as strong as that of reading. But the good news is this habit is breakable. You just have to replace the ‘not-doing’ with ‘doing’. But keep in mind it may not be possible to break the habit that you have had for years just in a few days. 

Although we can never overstate the importance of reading books, there is hardly anyone who does not know it. We often hear people speaking about the magnificence of reading, so much that write-ups on it now appear clichéd to us.

Let us get determined to build the habit of reading. With the advancement of technology, it has been much easier than before. If we truly want to, lots of reliable interactive sources like audiobooks, podcasts, etc. are out there to help us. They will keep coming on their own, as Paulo Coelho says, “when you want something, all the universe conspires in helping you to achieve it.”