Reading: How it Helps Keep You "In the Moment!"

Reading. Whatever happened to it? In centuries gone by, reading was the hobby of choice. When folks had free time, they picked up a book. But that's far from the case today.

"Ah, but they weren't as busy as we are today," you might say. That's not true. Even with the advent of the industrial revolution in Britain and subsequently, in the United States, (when people and animals were released from non-stop work), people have always been just as busy as we are today. In fact, people who lived in earlier centuries were even busier! Either way, that's not a good enough reason to stop reading books!

"Back then", folks had to chop firewood, haul water and--when there was something worth communicating--write letters and arrange for delivery.

The only difference is that we have more modern conveniences today. We get things done with the press of a button. To give an example, years ago, the latch of a gate had to be prodded into place. Now, a gate is closed with an easy click or a clang-or by remote control.

Things were much slower years ago, too. People didn't zoom around in cars nor did they chat on the phone. They did not spend hours in front of the internet, or watching television.

They were outdoors more, too. "Back then", during their leisure time, the denizens of this planet--their lungs full of good, healthy air, and their muscles having been exerted by exercise--pulled up a chair and got lost in a book for the sheer pleasure and life-enhancing facet of doing so.

These days, the two times people are likely to pick up reading material is at church, when they hold the mass missilette, and when collecting pamphelts at the doctor's or dentist's.

Almost no-one reads newspapers anymore, as falling demographics have revealed; the media pre-digests the news for us and presents it for us in sound bytes. The internet, I-pod, text messaging and AIM-ing have usurped the written word. As wonderful as these technological marvels are, and as crucial to our development--reading appears to have fallen by the wayside.