Reading

On formspring I was recently asked a question that caught my attention. The question/comment was, “Why do you like to read so much. It’s so boring. I don’t see the appeal.” While answering back, I found it challenging to keep my answer under 2 paragraphs. After giving my backspace a workout, I still had more to say. Finally, I decided I would just rewrite my response on a blog post:

A few years ago, I would have agreed that reading is boring and pointless. I have dyslexia and a communication disorder which, combined, gave me an excellent reason to have an aversion to reading.

In eighth grade, my best friend (of past, present, and hopefully future) pushed her favorite books on me. All my life I listened to adults telling me to read. “It’s good for you….. You’d love it if you found the right book…. You’re just not giving it a chance….” Eventually I stopped listening to adults on that subject matter, but my best friend was the first kid my age to suggest it. I figured there must be something to it if everyone was so insistent on me reading. Those three books she gave me are still the best books I’ve ever read. That was it for me: I was hooked. It turns out: all the adults were right. You just have to find the right genre. Trust me; if I could like reading, you could too.

Anyway, after I got into it, I realized something: when you read a book, you can be completely transported out of your own life and into the book. You can forget about all your troubles and stress, even for just a moment. Everybody has an outlet like that.

Some people like beat of their music, others like the soothing hum of the ocean, and some, like me, love to get lost in a book. Music can block out the world and take the listener on a journey through the melody. The oceans sounds are always calming to the mind. A book can take me away from the present situation and put me into a story where everything is different. That’s why I read.

Life Is Short

Life is too short to go on the way most of us do. Stop saying well I’ll do it someday because someday could be taken away in the blink of an eye. It could just be something simple, like getting over your fear of roller coasters. Do it now, why wait until later? You could end up getting on the rollercoaster and realizing you missed out all your life. Then you have yet another thing to regret.
But more seriously, if you love someone but are too scared to tell them: don’t wait, you could lose your chance. If you’re in a fight with your friend: forgive and forget. It's not worth the pain. If you recently got in a fight with your parents: go home right now and hug them. When everything else is wrong, your family is the only thing you have left. Life is too short for those petty problems. In the blink of an eye, you could lose your chance to apologize or confess. So do it now, while you still have the chance. No fear.

Never Give Up

When I was five years old, I joined karate. At five ears old, there’s no way I could have known how much I would learn. I’m not just talking about Back-kicks and the perfect Right Hook; I’m talking about life lessons. Throughout the seven years it took to get my black belt, I was off and on crutches, always had at least an ankle brace on, went through extensive physical therapy and underwent surgery. To get my black belt, I had to survive a 50 mile bike ride and four months of what we all called “boot camp” which was appropriately named. With all my experiences, I feel like I am capable of understanding dedication. There were so many times that I wanted to give up. There were also many doctors who told me it would be impossible to finish. I have one message for my readers:

Never give up. If you want straight A’s, study as much as you have to in order to achieve that goal. If you want to be a singer, sing your heart out and never let your voice be silenced. And if you want to be a black belt, don’t let any injures hold you back. If you want to do anything that seems impossible right now, don’t let anyone discourage you.

Prove them wrong and never give up.