I f you've taken the time to read a book cover to cover, you know that books are excellent teaching tools. Here are a few things I've learned from reading.

1. You Discover Yourself

You are what you eat, so the saying goes but I would like to suggest for creatives like myself that you become what you read. When you read and meditate on books that inspire and interest you, you can better comprehend your thought process and ultimately, who you are as a person. You become aware of your idiosyncrasies, interests and beliefs, and understanding your thinking is the only way to determine who you are. Your reading habits and history say a lot about your identity. You have a whole shelf that shouts who you are.

2. You Develop an Insatiable Curiosity

I'm not the only one who is still waiting for a sequel to Adichie's Half of a Yellow Sun, strongly hoping that it will give us clues to Kainene's whereabouts. That's what reading does to you. It teaches you to ask questions. What? How? Where? When? Why? It doesn't matter how silly or how important the question sounds. To find answers, you'd read more and more books, that will raise even more and more questions and the cycle goes on like that.

3. You May Forget What You Read And That's Fine.

Unless you're a medical student studying for your final exams, in which case forgetting is not an option. You must remember because the lives of your potential patients (and I could be one) depend on it. Or you're reading to gather solid facts for your research thesis presentation. Otherwise, it's okay to not remember. The insights are what matters. When I read, I'm intrigued by interesting new facts that I hadn't known. I may forget that it happened in 1925, but I won't forget that Bulgaria and Greece got into a war because of a stray dog. It is these absurd bits of information and the "aha" moments when you finally make sense of a new concept that make reading so satisfying.

4. It's Okay Not To Finish a Book.

There are several books available. There are the life-altering ones that'll change your entire outlook on life. There are the ones riddled with humour, that'll have you rolling on the floor with laughter. There are the average ones that are just good for passing time. Then there are some which are, well, not worth finishing.

It all depends on what you're interested in. You could pick up a book with a brilliant cover and a promising title and think "This is the one that will change my life". Then a few chapters into it, you are already skimming through the book looking for the tiniest bit of information to hold your interest. When you find none, you abandon the book and move on to the next one. I think books should be entertaining, at least. When a book lacks that basic quality it becomes a burden to me which defeats the whole essence of reading.

5. You Learn How to Listen

The thing about books is that your viewpoint is rarely sought after. There's no opportunity to give feedback or share your views. When you read, you focus entirely on the book to fully understand what the book is about. You learn to pay attention to what the author has to say, whether you agree with them or not. You learn to silently swallow your opinions, or give the writer the benefit of the doubt by reading the book till the end. Reading teaches you how to receive information without having to react, at least not immediately.

Reading forces you to stop to consider the author's point of view. Often it turns out that we're the biased ones, quick to pass judgment and completely disregarding the evidence. Books don't offer you that opportunity to interrupt. Regularly reading books improves your communication skills. You'd become a better listener, slow to speak.

6. You Value Your Privacy

Living in a socially active world in which people tend to over-share, reading allows us to just be, to learn, and be content with knowing. Reading is a private experience shared just with the book. It's a meditation of sorts. You'll often waver between agreeing with and objecting to the many philosophies that you learn about from various authors. You may have unconventional ideas that may be generally unpopular. You are aware that only a select few will understand these concepts, so you might decide to keep them to yourself. You learn to absorb ideas rather than instantaneously adopt them. This helps broaden your perspective.

7. You are inspired to act.

Books inspire you to take action. What you read can help you change, either for the better or for the worse. It could be a call to action to declutter, start writing, pay closer attention to your finances, invest, cook, or be kinder to yourself.

I have an unfinished novel and an incomplete poetry chapbook in my writing draft. I started writing them shortly after reading two of Chimamanda Adichie's books and wanted so much to write like her. I almost dropped out to take up hairstyling full-time. I had just read the story of a lady who has never used her Engineering degree but runs a flourishing hair-styling business. I unfollowed a lot of social media influencers that I admired after reading Mark Mason's The Subtle Art of Not Giving a Fuck. I don't doubt that I may take more irrational actions in the future just because I read a book and in the spur of the moment, was inspired to act a certain way.

8. You Learn Patience

You can skim through an online article in 3 minutes, and complete a movie in less than 2 hours, but to finish a book, you'd need at least one day. Books are not like online articles that you can scroll through or movies that you can fast-forward. Reading takes time. It teaches you to be patient with the author as they gradually and steadily develop the story. You'd feel the urge to jump to the last chapter of the book to know how a story ends (and you may give in). On many occasions, even after you've learned the ending, you still want to find out how the story progresses to reach the climax. 

I'm not what you'd call an avid reader. I don't read as often as I would love to but I try. I may not be the perfect role model when it comes to reading, but I'd go ahead to encourage you to try reading sometime. It's an exercise worth your time. Through reading, you build relevant skills that will be useful in various aspects of your life.