Why I stopped reading thrillers…
Unlike many ardent readers, I wasn’t brought up amidst books. A good amount of time my childhood was spent in front of the television watching cartoons and a lot more time sky-watching waiting for superman. So, you see, nothing in my life prompted me to spend time on non-academic books. Still, I ended up with fascinating storybooks during my teenage. My first book was a one from the famous Nancy Drew series. Even though I don’t remember how I felt, it must have been good given that I finished reading all the Nancy Drew novels in the library. Soon, my love for Nancy Drew extended to The Hardy Boys and The Famous Five. From there on, I have had a hard time keeping my hands off thrillers.
The adrenaline rush, the constant anticipation, and excitement used to keep me on my toes till I turned the last page of the book. It made my mundane life, less boring- I didn’t need any other reason to read.
A lot has happened since then and I am a fully functional adult now. Recently, I decided to stop reading thrillers and Below are the reasons why I chose to do so.
They aren’t thrilling anymore
You will be on your toes the first time the killer jumps out of nowhere. You might still get surprised the second, the third and the fourth time. But, soon, your intuition will start alerting you and sometimes, it might even be false alarms. So, the fifth time, you will know when something is about to happen. This kills the fun-but how can you shut down your conscious mind from being alert?
Scientifically speaking, the human body releases hormones like adrenaline when encountered with a stressful situation- which here is falsely created by reading. However, when the same situation is presented before the brain again, it fails to release the hormone in the same amount it did the first time. Hence, it might seem less electrifying, especially when the same scene is repeated.
Doesn’t add any value
It is good to ask oneself questions- helps in understanding yourself more. Hence, I started asking myself a question every time I finished a thriller- what did you learn? Let’s be honest. Most thrillers don’t contribute much to your knowledge. There are a few that do, but the chances of a regular person applying it in life are very less.
This world offers us an immense number of opportunities and secrets which are often not explored by us because of the limited time in our lives. There is no denying that adult life is full-packed with work, household activities, friends, family, and others. Many hardly get time for self-care. And wasting time on something that doesn’t contribute much to my life, is not something I would like to do.
They are disturbing
One thing many deem important once they step into adulthood is peace. It is funny how something so insignificant during childhood gained value once suddenly in their 20’s. And murders, kidnappings and other illegal activities are not peace-inducing. There were nights where I didn’t sleep soundly because of the gruesome images and feeling of being in threat. There are times I wonder how little I know about my neighbor and the possibility of her being a pyscho killer. Call me paranoid if you want. But you can’t rule out the chances of that happening. Just saying.
So, just like any troubled lazy woman who can’t be called insane yet- I took the easy way out. I decided to stop reading thrillers.
How has it changed my life?
Now, with more time in hand, I invest it cleverly on productive activities. Planning my days has made it more fruitful and organized. With thrillers out of the picture, positive thinking has become easier, influencing my actions and changing my life.
