In 1996 (I’m not sure if the same statistics has been revised), the National Library of Malaysia came out with a statistics informing us that on average, every Malaysian reads on 6 pages a year! 6 pages, not books! Although I have always claimed that I am a bibliophile, I am a slow reader. Having said that, I stand a high chance to be one of those who only read 6 pages a year. I am in contact with a few other people whom I know love to read. Their speed seem too fast for me – like 2 books of some 300 pages each a week. Having to run errands for both family and my personal needs, I cannot afford to complete 2 books in a week, to be honest. One day, I saw myself touching back the book I was reading only 3 days after I last read it. That means, I had let myself fooled me by not reading at all for 3 days consecutively. That is a big fat lie I did to myself. I could not take it.
So, I began to dig into my closet and looked out for my tiny metal bookmarks. Before long, I was already armed with two metal bookmarks. I smiled alone. I am using the first one (the leave shape) to mark where I stop last whilst the other one (with a bee shape) to mark the target page I want to stop. For many days, my target was just random and far from achievable, but I was glad both bookmarks have been giving me some good feelings about getting touch of the book. The gap between the leave and bee shape bookmarks were approximately 10 sheets. When I tried to read and meet my target, I felt bad. I kept reminding myself how bad a reader I am for not even able to read 10 sheets a day. But I did not let myself punish me. I changed the whole thing instead. I decided to lessen the gap from 10 sheets to 5 pages. Here’s what I get as a result:
#1 Happiness due to sense of accomplishment
YES! The sense of accomplishment is a treasure of my own when it comes to reading. People may just see me reading but they have no idea the feeling it gives the moment both bookmarks meet one another or when I move the bee shape bookmark to another few pages ahead from where it was first at.
#2 I strike a new goal, that is having a stipulated reading time every day
Because I set a goal to read 5 pages a day, I saw myself putting up a better discipline by setting a reading time in my daily timetable. I’m loving it. Now, whatever other time I have and use for reading will only adds up to the amount of pages I read daily.
#3 I begin to read everyday
When new thing is put in the routine and it makes you happy, you will definitely want to keep it in your timetable and repeat it.
#4 I add a few more pages after I reach my target
Like I said, once I have finished reading the 5 pages, all other time that I spend reading will only add to the number of pages I read for the day.
#5 I will make time to read 5 pages even if I miss the stipulated reading time I set for myself
So after a few days of doing this, one day, I accidentally wasted my time by cooking too long. I was then tired and chose to take a nap, in which turned out to be two hours. The whole day was gone just like that. I was so unhappy I did not even turn the laptop on to check my website traffic. By midnight, I was sorry for myself for being so poor that day. I thought I would sleep but before long, I was already under the reading light reading 5 pages for the day. It was something new. I felt so happy for having the determination to get off my bed at wee hours just to complete my 5 pages. I was grateful for that little achievement.
Besides reading and getting myself new books, you know that I also give book reviews, right? If you have any good books to suggest, don’t forget to drop the title and author at the comment. Have a good weekend, people.
