Welcome to English as a Second Language podcast
number 27. Hello and welcome to English as a
Second Language podcast number 27. I'm your host,
Dr. Jeff McQuillen, coming to you from the Center
for Educational Development. here in Los Angeles,
California. If this is the first time listening
to our podcast, we ask that you go to our website
at www .eslpod .com for more information on this
podcast and for the scripts or text of the first
part of today's podcast. Today we're going to
talk about how we deal with, how we handle the
stresses and the strains or the difficulties
of everyday life. Lucy is going to tell us a
little bit about the way she approaches everyday
problems. Let's get started. I came across some
good advice while reading this week. If you're
like me, you spend most of your time thinking
about all of the things that are on your to -do
list, and you try to figure out how you're going
to do them all. Or, sometimes I think about things
that have already happened. Maybe I messed up
my presentation at work or had a fight with my
boyfriend. People dwell on these kinds of things
all of the time. The book I was reading made
a very good point. If you're constantly thinking
about the past or the future, How can you enjoy
the present? In other words You're making yourself
unhappy by stressing out about things that you
can't control At the same time you're missing
what's happening right now I Know I do this all
the time for instance I was at the movies this
past weekend. I was with my good friend and we
were seeing a movie we've had our eye on for
weeks. I was looking forward to it and my friend
and I were both in a great mood. Then I saw someone
across the theater who looked like my co -worker.
It wasn't her, but it got me thinking. I thought
about the report I had to do on Monday and how
much I hated working on it. Then I thought about
my co -worker who wasn't pulling her weight.
The more I thought about it, the more angry I
got. By the time the movie started, My mood had
changed completely. I was stressed out. Where
did all of that thinking and worrying get me?
Nowhere. My new resolution is to try to stop
obsessing about the past and the future so much,
and to just enjoy the here and now. Lucy told
us about how she dealt with or how she handled
the difficulties of life. Let's talk a little
bit about what she said. She started by saying
that she came across some good advice when she
was reading this week. To come across something
is to find something even though you aren't necessarily
looking for it. For example, I was going through
my filing cabinet where I keep my files, my papers,
and I came across an old photo of my friend.
I wasn't looking for it, but I found it. Lucy
also mentioned that she spends a lot of time
thinking about her to -do list or the things
she has. has to do but sometimes she thinks about
things that happened in the past for example
she said that she was thinking about how she
messed up her presentation at work to mess up
something is to do a poor or do a bad job to
mess up means to make a mistake The other expression,
and this is an informal expression, is screwed
up. I screwed up. Screwed up is a little more
informal. Messed up is a little more acceptable
for day -to -day conversation. Lucy mentioned
that people often dwell on these kinds of things
or their mistakes, for example. or their problems.
To dwell on something means to think about it,
but think about it too much. Don't dwell on the
past is a common expression. It means don't think
about the past too much because you can't do
anything about it. The book that Lucy was reading,
according to her, made a good point. A point
here means an idea or a good idea or an argument
often in favor of one thing or another. So you
can say, you have a good point there. Meaning,
the idea that you expressed is worth listening
to. It's worth considering. There are some other
expressions where we use this word in the same
context. I see your point. means I understand
your point. We use the verb to see. I see your
point. The question, what's your point, is the
same idea. In other words, what is your idea?
What is your argument? But it has a somewhat
negative, aggressive context to it or idea behind
it. You're arguing arguing with someone and you
say well, what's your point? It's not a nice
thing to say we sometimes say it when we're getting
angry or getting frustrated a Another expression
that Lucy used was in other words in other words
means simply to say something or Express something
in a different way We use that phrase in other
words before saying something that we're going
to explain in a different manner in other words
To stress out Lucy said that she was making herself
unhappy by stressing out to stress out means
to worry about to be concerned about something
so much that it bothers you, it causes you problems.
Lucy gave the example of when she went to the
movies this past weekend. This past weekend means
this previous weekend or the weekend before today.
If today is Wednesday, this past weekend is the
Saturday and Sunday before today it also we use
the term last weekend what did you do last weekend
meaning the weekend prior or previous to today
Lucy said she and her friend went to see a movie
they had their eye on for weeks to have your
eye on something usually means that you want
something We typically use this expression when
we want to buy something, but we're not quite
ready We're still thinking about it, but you're
very interested in it you desire it you want
it I Have my eye on an iPod, but I haven't bought
it yet Lucy said that she and her friend were
in a great mood A mood just means how you are
feeling, how your attitude is. You can be in
a good mood, you can be in a great mood, you
can also be in a bad mood when you're not feeling
very well. When I say feeling well, I don't mean
physically how you're feeling, like you're sick.
I mean how you feel mentally, what your attitude
is. There's another expression that Lucy used,
pulling her weight. She was talking about her
co -worker, the person she works with, that wasn't
pulling her weight. This expression, to pull
your weight or to pull your own weight, means
to do your part, to do what you have a responsibility
to do. To say someone isn't pulling her own weight
or his own weight, means they're not doing their
part of the job or their part of the work. Lucy
mentioned that this worrying about things and
thinking about things was not something that
she wanted to continue doing and so she made
a new resolution. A resolution means a promise
that you make to yourself. In this case, we often
talk about our New Year's resolutions. Meaning,
in the first of January, it's a new year. I'm
going to try to do certain things. I'm going
to lose 10 pounds. I'm going to eat better food,
more vegetables and so forth. That's a resolution.
It's a promise to yourself that you try to keep.
Lucy said she's going to try to stop obsessing
about the past and the future so much. To obsess
about something is to think about it all the
time, to always be thinking about it in the back
of your mind. It has a negative meaning here.
It's usually considered a bad thing to obsess
about something, to think about it too much.
Lucy instead said she's going to try to enjoy
the here and now. The here and now means the
present, what's happening at this minute, at
this moment. To enjoy the here and now means
to enjoy what's going on in your life right now.
Not bad advice, I would say. That's going to
do it for today's English as a Second Language
podcast. As always, we ask that you email us
and tell us where you are and who you are. Our
email address is eslpod .com, eslpod .com. Before
we end today, I wanted to mention that we are
changing our server our computer server where
we have our audio files and so our site our website
and our Podcast may not be available all the
time We apologize, but we are trying to improve
our website because so many people have been
downloading our files mostly through iTunes and
we think that's wonderful we want to make sure
we can continue doing that and so we apologize
for the inconvenience we're trying to work on
it as fast as we can I want to thank you again
for listening my name is Jeff McQuillen from
Los Angeles California we'll see you next time
on ESL podcast ESL Podcast is produced by the
Center for Educational Development in Los Angeles,
California. This podcast is copyright 2005.