I Love Books

I have a confession to make. I love books. I have hundreds. There are many different topics. I have one shelf in my office dedicated to public speaking books. Another shelf has only CS Lewis books. I love them. I love to collect them. I don’t often read them.

Yes. You read that last line correctly. I love books. I collect them. Sitting down and reading paper books is hard for me. My preferred method of reading is listening. I listen every day. However, it still bothers me that I have a hard time with the old fashioned way.

Something strange happened yesterday. I gave myself permission to be still and read. I opened the book and when I was done I had read a quarter of the book. I can’t remember the last time I sat down and read 50 pages at once. I was rather proud of myself. I intend to finish that book this weekend.

So, why has it been hard if I was able to do what I thought I couldn’t do. I have a couple of answers:

1. I haven’t made it a priority at the right time of day. Every time I try to read a paper book is right before bed. It doesn’t work. I drop the book on my face. It is hard to see the print. It frustrates me and I give up. But…when I read a book mid day when my energy was high? It worked. Go figure.

2. I have let myself become addicted to distraction. Whether it is my phone, work emails, or whatever…I am distracted. This has to stop. If I was able to choose a different path yesterday, I can do it again.

It is my hope that my bookcase sees me more. I want to put the knowledge that lives there into my head. I want the space to think about it and ponder it while I read it. Yes, I will still listen to audio books, but I need to add this back into my routine.

I love books. It is time for me to show them.