Reading can be like Jogging

In response to KCS's post "I miss reading...for me".

For some, jogging has a real purpose. They anticipate the push, the clarity, the pumping of the blood and burn of the muscle etc. For me, I find jogging to be a complete waste of my time. Although I believe jogging is good for me and will do wonders for me in the future, I just don't see any purpose to it other than: human= running. I understand people must jog to loose weight etc. but, I don't have to lose weight, I'm actually pretty thin. I do a lot of walking, especially when I'm traveling and taking pictures, but, I usually walk with a purpose. To jog simply to jog, blows my mind.
Which brings me to reading.
In the past, reading was something I did for a purpose, or something I had to do. By the age of 7 my dad tried to make me read A Tale of Two Cities. It was me, a lamp, a couch, the Tale, a pad of paper, a pencil and a dictionary (so I could look up words I didn't understand, write them down, and come up with other sentences to use the unknown word in). It felt like I was going on a 5 mile jog; just way too much for me.
Anyway, to tie this all together. I enjoy reading, I have for some time now. However, it took me many, many years to feel that way. Every time I picked up a new book, whether it be The Picture of Dorian Gray, On the Road or Choke, I had to convince myself I was actually doing something. I had to Convince myself that it was not a waste of time, but I was going to enjoy it. Even today, when I look at the book I've been reading for 6 months now...I cannot get myself to read it. I know I want to and should...it's a great book!But, I have a difficult time convincing myself "I'm doing something." I enjoy it though.

I hate jogging.

It's funny that watching ESPN/FOX/CNN/News/Discovery Channel/History Channel etc, or simply listening to music with a beer makes me "feel" like I'm doing "something". I think I'll go home tonight and...ahh hell, who am I kidding, I know I'm not going to read tonight!