I am a better person when I read.

Until my senior of high school, I had probably read three books:

  1. The Giving Tree- which was read to me, but I still did a book report on it.
  2. Ferris Bueller’s Day Off- which was a movie, but it was also a book. (I did about three book reports on it.)
  3. The Boz- the greatest book ever written about the greatest football player of all time. (No Bo Jackson comments, please.)

I hated to read. Reading was something my mom suggested I should do when I would complain about being “bored’. Reading and cleaning my room were usually suggested in tandem with one another as a common solution for boredom.

I didn’t find pleasure in reading until I was thirty-four years old. I found there was a sense of balance, focus, and stability that comes with shutting down and making the journey inside the words between the white.

Reading allows me to drift off with direction, to get lost while staying at home, to explore while stationary, and to learn while enjoying ignorance. My life is better when I read before bed. My imagination is fired but calm, and my mind is free to roam or stay still. I feel a sense of cleanliness combined with purpose when I take in a few minutes of a book before falling asleep.

Knowing that reading makes me better, being fully aware that turning off the tv and shutting down Facebook in exchange for a book is what makes me my best, I still don’t always do it. I go through cycles- cycles of taking in the goodness of literature before my eyes close and periods of choosing to watch mindless television and scroll through social media.

It’s crazy how well I can know what is good for me and still choose not to do it. It amazes me how clearly I can see the right choice standing in front of me but still choose to bite from Eden’s apple. I guess it takes work to build healthy habits. Maybe it never becomes a habit at all and is just something I will always have to fight.

I don’t know, maybe just writing about reading will help me to be more aware of its benefits and get back into the practice of doing it before I close my eyes at night.

Thank you for allowing me to ramble.

Peace, Love, and all things Beef related,

Beefcake