How reading saves your life and your sanity

Let’s face it. Reading is about more than revisiting an enchanted school for young magicians for the 11th time or pretending you understood what was going on with that great white whale. It’s about survival. While everyone else is squinting at their phones and ignoring crosswalk signals, readers everywhere are getting a serious leg up in life.

First, consider your brain. If your noggin feels like it’s been left in a microwave too long, reading can help. According to research cited on the National Library of Medicine website, reading stimulates the brain’s functions, helping prevent long-term cognitive decline. In other words, it helps you stay sharp enough to remember where you parked your car, or at least which parking lot you left it in.

Reading is more than mental gymnastics. It can reduce stress, which typically leads to improved sleep and better health. An article on the University of Minnesota’s website assures us that reading is right up there with yoga and long walks for calming frazzled nerves.

Finally, reading is the only hobby that lets you simultaneously travel the world, fight dragons and attend a Victorian ball while wearing sweatpants. That’s a multitasking miracle for anyone whose idea of adventure involves not leaving the couch. A study from the National Library of Medicine supports the idea that reading expands your vocabulary, potentially letting you use words like “absquatulate” correctly (look it up, it’s worth it).

So, pick up a book and start living your best, stress-free, vocabulary-rich life. Besides, if you ever get stranded on a desert island, guess who’ll have the skill set to build a shelter or start a fire? That’s right, the person who read the manual.