Ruining It

They emailed me this worksheet from therapy about how to build habits. The ideas were sound, but one of the examples got me wondering. It talked about reading a page from a book every night. At first, I wondered if everyone had the same kind of attention span issues that I have. Then it occurred to me that a lot of people don't allow themselves to read for pleasure.

Look, I'm all for educating yourself. I'm all for self-improvement. I've read quite a few books of the non-fiction sort that have done wonders to change my life. However, I do not and will not allow that to be my primary reason to read. There are too many wonderful books out there for your reading time to be dedicated to just.....improvement. Stop it. Reading should be about enjoyment too. It should be about escape and losing yourself in other people's lives. It should be something that fills your soul. 

I'm sure people could argue that my dislike of doing things out of obligation or because they're good for me is a big flaw in my lifeplan. They're probably not wrong. I just can't imagine losing my happy time with books.