Reading Life

    Growing up, I was not the student who absolutely loved to read. I actually struggled learning how to read in school so it was always a chore for me to read. I had a mild form of dyslexia growing up which was the cause for my struggle. I did love listening to my parents or older siblings read to me when I was younger because I loved stories, but it was usually not my idea to choose to read for pleasure. I was always the child who loved physical activities and moving my body which lead me to play many sports and become successful as an athlete.
    As I got older and reached high school, I admired my friends who always had a book in their hand. I really did. I wanted to be more intelligent and have a larger vocabulary like some of my friends and even family had. Even when I choose a book that I wanted to read, I found it extremely difficult to actually finish the book. There was always something else to that I had to get done for school, like homework, that would stand in my way. Because I played sports, I had before and/or after school practice(s) that took up a lot of my free time. This was another activity that took up a lot of my free time. But, these are all excuses. If I truly desired to read, then I would make the time for it. But, I did not.
    When I was in high school, I did become very consistent with writing. This became my favorite evening activity before going to bed each night. I would have my devotional time with the Lord and I would journal my prayers and thoughts. I found this extremely helpful for myself to write out my thoughts to make sense of what crazy things were going on in my head. This made me have to slow down my thinking process and learn to think clearly to write complete sentences. Because I struggled with reading growing up and did not make the time for pleasure reading, I would only read my Bible for free time outside of school reading. This became my only outside source of reading. I always thought to myself growing up, that if I only have a small time frame to read for pleasure outside of school then I want that book to be important and meaningful to me, which was the Bible.
    My reading habits are still very similar to how they were in high school, but I do have more motivation now to read. I love to learn new things and be able to comprehend the information that is presented. Most of the time I have to work extra hard to comprehend what I read and not just read the words in front of me just to finish something. I do find satisfaction in my reading and I do enjoy those quiet and peaceful times in a book. When I read today, I like to read in the mornings with a cup of coffee in a quiet room beside a window for natural light. This is my favorite atmosphere for both reading and writing.