Mental barriers are the limitations one sets in one’s mind. These barriers stop you from achieving your goals and from working hard. Most of the time, these barriers lead you to stress and anxiety, which don’t let you succeed or move on in life.

“The journey of a thousand miles begins with one step.” — Lao Tzu

But one cannot live in utter darkness forever and has to find solutions to chase light. One of the best and cheapest therapies that I can recommend to you is to read as I, myself, am a reader. Today, I will tell you a few reasons why you should read and how this habit will help you achieve your goals and fight mental barriers.

“I don’t actually know from where to start and where to end, because there has been a very subtle and gradual change in me as I started dedicating my time to reading. Because I have not always been a reader, so there has been an actual transition. It has definitely not been something revolutionary, it is just with time that you understand that there is something that’s changing mentally.” — Hussnain Babar

Reading is a magic that enlightens your life and delights you at every step. It gives you moments to cherish and cry. When you start spending your time reading books, you are able to fight distractions and over-thinking. You don’t waste your time sitting on your couch and making up unrealistic scenarios in your mind. You start to spend time with characters which help you adopt good qualities and a beautiful change occurs in life. This is how you take the first step towards peace of mind.

“Little minds are interested in the extraordinary; great minds in the commonplace.” — Elbert Hubbard

When you read, you find yourself chasing knowledge. Reading creates a sense of learning in humans. It forces you to read and know more about others and, in the process, discover more about yourself. You work on yourself to become a better and more thoughtful person. Just experiment with reading and see your life changing beautifully.

Readers are ideological. They possess their own ideologies, which are rooted in great minds. A reader reads great minds through autobiographies and research articles, that shape his ideas and intellect in an extraordinary way. These ideologies don’t only benefit the one who reads, but the people around him as well. That’s why readers can take careful steps easily and can make their way to success. Their ideological behaviour helps them to not overthink or overload themselves with burden. That is why we commonly hear that readers are leaders.

Readers are very empathetic and kind towards others. They read and live so many lives that they tend to understand others, not criticise. Even a villain is very dear to them because they know what kind of mental condition the villain had while making wrong decisions or devastating other lives.

If you ever encounter readers, you will always see that they carry a personality that doesn’t envy anyone.

A fellow reader put it as, “I found relatability in reading. As I read, I found that there are a lot of people out there who feel the same way, or have the same human qualities, bad or good, same inclinations bad or good. When I read, most of the time, I am able to relate to them. This has changed me as a person, I see the world from a more humane way.”

Readers can clearly differentiate between right and wrong. Through the lessons they get from different books, they become highly aware of what can benefit them and what can cause them harm. That’s because some events happen in life which we have read about previously in books and we get to resolve our equations of life without taking too much time.

“Reading is a basic tool in the living of a good life.” — Mortimer J. Adler

Readers are not extremists because their minds have opened up while reading about different people and cultures. This makes them more understanding towards everyone’s point of view and they never fail to respect others’ perspective of life. And I don’t think that there’s anything else more effective in bringing people together and more important in this era of extremism and inequality.

There is another major reason why readers love their hobby so much. Reading is often regarded as escapism. We all become disgusted by the noise around us and the rush of life at some point. Books provide us the best way to escape our life for as much time as we want. While reading, we dwell in a different world, with a whole lot of suspense and adventures. We become a protagonist of another story and enjoy all the ups and downs of life inside that book. In this way, readers can escape from the tensions and trials of life. Consequently, readers find themselves more at peace and less at war.

Readers ultimately become writers and some are even destined to publish their own books. So, whenever readers feel heavy and unable to explain their feelings to others, they write. They write their stories and their emotions. This not only helps them to feel lighter, but also lets them make a storehouse of their memories.

And this habit is not only limited to writing during bad times, but even happy periods of life too. Imagine saving pieces of your life in words and living them again and again when you read them. How beautiful a way to show gratitude towards life!

When you read, you find yourself chasing and following knowledge. Reading creates a sense of learning in humans. It forces you to read and know more about others and, in the process, discover more about yourself. You work on yourself to become a better and more thoughtful person. Just experiment with reading and see your life changing beautifully.

“As a rule, men worry more about what they can’t see than about what they can.” — Julius Caesar

There are uncountable benefits of reading and those mentioned above make it evident that a reader is less likely to develop mental barriers and keep growing as a person. Just read and rock!

Published in Dawn, Young World, March 20th, 2021