Great to see everyone @Evelyne Vincent, @Eva Bosakova, @Shirley Lee, @Oanh Tran, @Leileon W, @Coral Lee, @Bruno Dart, @Mina Min, @Jane Zhang, @Kayla Li, @Candice Y, @Moon Zhang, @Stephen Dong, @Leah Yip, Sean, Zhang, Rose, Anni, Lily, Poppy, and Zoe. I tried to tag everyone who joined today, but the list got a little wild -- so if I missed you, say hi in the comments. Thank you for your time and thoughts on today's LME Page Pals! 💬 Expressions & Meanings: - Insecure thinking -- thoughts that make you feel unsure, worried, or not good enough - Spiral out of control -- get bigger and worse very fast (like when one worry turns into a hundred worries) - Uptight – tense / not relaxed - Caught up in your thinking -- stuck in your thoughts and can't stop thinking - To top it off -- AND on top of that… - Incredibly agitated -- very upset or stressed (like feeling shaky inside) - Mental rehearsal -- practicing something in your head - Needless to say -- obviously - Running through the list -- checking work tasks in your mind - Consciously nip it in the bud -- stop something early on before it gets big - Overwhelmed -- feeling like there's too much to handle - Exacerbates the problem -- makes the problem worse (like pouring more water on a muddy mess) - To obsess on something -- thinking nonstop about one thing 🎧 Audio of Part 4: “Be Aware of the Snowball Effect of Your Thinking” (see attached)

📖 Book Don't Sweat the Small Stuff … and It's All Small Stuff by Richard Carlson, PhD. Synopsis: Simple ways to keep little things from taking over your life. The book consists of 100 short articles -- we'll go through them week by week. This week’s # 4: Be Aware of the Snowball Effect of Your Thinking Here's what you need to do: 1. Read it yourself, take time to reflect on it and make notes if you wish. 2. Join the live reading on Wednesday. We'll read and listen to the article together, line by line. 3. Share your thoughts. Keep your answer under 5 minutes. Be clear, and focus on expressing your ideas about the topic to practice real English speaking. Article # 4 Be Aware of the Snowball Effect of Your Thinking A powerful technique for becoming more peaceful is to be aware of how quickly your negative and insecure thinking can spiral out of control. Have you ever noticed how uptight you feel when you're caught up in your thinking? And, to top it off, the more absorbed you get in the details of whatever is upsetting you, the worse you feel. One thought leads to another, and yet another, until at some point, you become incredibly agitated. For example, you might wake up in the middle of the night and remember a phone call that needs to be made the following day. Then, rather than feeling relieved that you remembered such an important call, you start thinking about everything else you have to do tomorrow. You start rehearsing a probable conversation with your boss, getting yourself even more upset. Pretty soon you think to yourself, "I can't believe how busy I am. I must make fifty phone calls a day. Whose life is this anyway?" and on and on it goes until you're feeling sorry for yourself. For many people, there's no limit to how long this type of "thought attack" can go on. In fact, I've been told by clients that many of their days and nights are spent in this type of mental rehearsal. Needless to say, it's impossible to feel peaceful with your head full of concerns and annoyances.