The Benefits of Knowing the World You Live In
By Asfa Shakeel
Millennials often forego keeping up with world affairs due to a lack of time and interest. However, there are countless benefits to staying engaged with world affairs, involving yourself with political discussions that allow you to express your views and being open about your opinions on a variety of different topics. Here’s why.
1.You are in the Loop
Keeping up with world affairs, automatically allows you to gain more knowledgeable about what is going on around the globe. From protests taking place in Venezuela, Isis losing in Syria (thankfully), Trump trying to build a wall (*eye roll*), Justin Trudeau wearing a sherwani in India (so handsome!), to Thereasa May struggling to push a great BREXIT (what?!) deal, enhances your knowledge. Moreover, you can engage in healthy (and sometimes not so healthy) debate and discussion. Such debates equip you with a broader understanding on an issue and further increases your knowledge.
2. Now you’re a better orator!
Sharing your opinions and delving in healthy debate and discussions on global issues will result in your oratory skills improving exponentially. Listen to BBC news or Al Jazeera, to further know how information is shared. If you’ve ever been impressed by someone else’s communication skills and how well they can get their points across, know that you can get there too!
3. Put things into perspective!
Reading is known to reduce stress, and you can take this opportunity to step away from your day and learn about what is going on around the world. It’s a great way to keep your mind active and to put your own life and problems into perspective. Life has its up and downs, we must learn how to be grateful for ourselves which will ultimately help us lead better, happier lives.
4. Strengthen your reading abilities
Practice makes perfect, and spending 20 to 30 minutes reading every day will improve your reading speed, comprehension and retention. If this is something you’ve ever struggled with or wanted to improve, here’s a really helpful and educational way to achieve it!
5. Improve your vocabulary and writing abilities!
By reading and engaging in more educated conversations, your retention and usage of vocabulary will improve. Over time, you will find yourself using better vocabulary in your writing and day to day life.If you’re interested in writing, staying engaged with politics and the news is essential for you! By improving your reading, expression and developing your own coherency of thought, you will inadvertently build up your writing skills and abilities as well.