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.