As a society we learn to read starting at a very young age. This is how we gain our knowledge and enhance our vocabulary. For some reason there is a certain age where everyone picks a side, read for fun or stay away from it like it’s the plague. Same will go for exercising, as obesity rises so does stupidity. People either work out to keep themselves looking and feeling good or they don’t workout because they couldn’t care less. Reading is a workout for your mind and its just as important as working your body out. There are lots of benefits to reading, but here is list of a specific few.

1. Mental Stimulation

Studies have shown that staying mentally stimulated can slow the progress or possibly prevent Alzheimer’s or Dementia. Just like your body muscles they need constant movement and “working out” to keep them from losing their main functions. The saying of “Use it or lose it” is particularly apt when it comes to your mind. Your brain needs to continue being worked to keep it from slipping especially as you get older.

2. Stress Reduction

That new girlfriend making you lose your mind? The stress of passing your classes keeping you awake at night? FASFA screwing you out of much needed money? No matter the stress level it can all be forgotten when you delve into a great story or an interesting article. A well-written novel can transport you into a new realm, time, or situation and make you really feel for the characters. Distracting your mind and sinking into a good book or article can let your tensions slip away and give you a refresher.

3. Knowledge

This is one of the most important benefits to reading. Everything we read fills our brain with new information that we never know when it may come in handy. You can lose your money, your job, your material possessions, and your health, but no one can ever take the knowledge that you have stored in your brain. The more you read the more you gain, you may stumble upon a newfound passion and it wouldn’t have ever been possible if you hadn’t taken the time to read.

4. Vocabulary Expansion

People are often using words that you have never heard before. People use big words and crazy words to describe different situations or things. They were able to learn these new words by reading them somewhere and learning the meaning behind them. The words that you know right now you have read somewhere and found out the meaning behind it and now you use it in your everyday talk. Reading will expand your vocabulary and it will eventually help you in life. Being well-spoken is a trait that many companies want you to have, they want you to be able to speak well to them and your customers.

5. Cheap, even free, entertainment

The amount of different genres of books and articles to read is very large. There is a genre to fit everyone and there’s a book or article to satisfy everyone. Articles are free to read, you can log onto your computer and search anything you wanted and there would be some sort of article on it. The amount of books is endless, fitting anyone who wishes to read one. Books are cheap and you gain lots of knowledge from reading them, most say you can’t put a price on that. Knowledge is free you just have to go out and attain it.