Books are all around us. They are an indescribable amount of books and stories, and I’m sure you can find one on any topic if you need to.

The beautiful thing about books is that they’re universal. Some popular books are even known all across the world, with fans of the story in every country. It gives us a feeling of unity, and shows how we’re all in some way interconnected.

Books have a unique way in impacting our life, in more ways than you think.

They Change Our Attitude

Reading can greatly change our attitude toward others, and mostly in a good way. I will admit that it really depends on what you’re reading, but overall stories are extremely beneficial toward our health and attitude.

While we read books, we’re able to understand and sympathize with the characters in them. We’re forced to view the story from a certain point of view, to try to understand what’s going on and how the character is feeling.

When experiencing these stories, we are strengthening our ability to empathize with people in the real world, as well.

It’s important to be able to understand what people are going through, and be kind to them. Doing so makes us more respected by others, since we’re not afraid to show compassion or stand up for someone.

We Learn From Mistakes That Aren’t Ours

When we experience stories from different perspectives and form our own opinions based on what the words tell us, we tend to notice a lot of mistakes that characters make, mistakes that we wish we could stop them from doing.

If a character messes up, you feel the regret as if it’s your own. After all, you were with them through the entire story. It almost feels like you could have done something, even though you really couldn’t have.

Seeing these issues will help us learn from them. If we ever face a similar problem in our own life, we clue in as to what to avoid. We’ll think before making a decision so that our outcome isn’t the same as the character’s.

Isn’t it convenient that we get to learn from other peoples’ mistakes instead of having to make them ourselves?

Our Personality Changes

Even if just a little bit, the way we behave and what we do are changed depending on the books we read.

For example, after reading the Sisterhood of the Travelling Pants, I learned to value my friends more. After reading Sherlock, Hound of the Baskervilles, I’ve practiced being more aware of my surroundings. After reading Animal Farm, I’ve paid more attention to keeping myself from being influenced by greed or power.

Little things change after we read a book, and this very change is what helps shape who we truly are. Every story is meant to influence us, and helps us find ourselves one book at a time.

Photo by Jonas Jacobsson on Unsplash