Habits, are actions we do daily and on a consistent basis, which has become a part of us. They gives a sort of dopamine which makes it hard to give it up because of the sense of reward we get from it. There are bad habits and good habits. Acknowledging the potential life-changing impact of habits is crucial, even if we sometimes resist admitting it..
Just that eating of finger nails can be life changing in its own way.
I’ve in the time past cultivated a lot of habits, positive and negative that has impacted my life and change the way I see life. The one that particularly stood out was the habit of reading books. As a student it seems normal to read from time to time and to study on what goes on in classes, but during my days as a student, I was very unserious with my studies which makes me not to really give the required study time, good enough to make me pass my course in flying colours. This affected my academic life, as I go on to bad an extended academic year in the university.
This extended academic journey took an unexpected turn when a nine-month strike disrupted the regular flow of university life, confining me to the walls of my home
It was the first time in my life I ever felt so hopeless and stagnant. I couldn’t move out, travel or do something relevant with my life because I was held down by uncompleted coursework.
It got so bad I was almost close to being depressed at home, as all I do everyday was get up, scroll through social media, eat and sleep - A hopeless living.
My anger for my unseriousness in school pushed me into developing the habit of reading. I remembered the first book I took was “The subtle act of not giving a fck” by Mark Mason.*
This book radicalised my mind and changed the way I see life. It took me out of the hopeless state I was at that time and changed my perception about live.
Because I was stuck in school and my mate were done, it seems as if I was losing in life but this book taught me better. Life's journey is personal, and comparing oneself to others is a futile exercise.
It was the right book at the right time, like a miracle in printed words.
After I saw what this single book did to me in general, I instantly developed the habit of reading daily, because it helps me in different ways I can’t even explain.
Ever since then, realising what reading books can do to me, I cultivate the habit and derive joy from reading. I download books online on various topics to read.
One thing I quickly learn was that, there is a lot to learn in this world, the more you know, the more you don’t know.
