📖 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 # 10: Learn to Live in the Present Moment Here's what you need to do: 1. Read it yourself, take time to reflect on it and make notes. 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 4 minutes. Be clear, and focus on expressing your ideas about the topic to practice real English speaking. No debates, just sharing thoughts. Article # 10 Learn to Live in the Present Moment To a large degree, the measure of our peace of mind is determined by how much we are able to live in the present moment. Irrespective of what happened yesterday or last year, and what may or may not happen tomorrow, the present moment is where you are -- always! Without question, many of us have mastered the neurotic art of spending much of our lives worrying about a variety of things -- all at once. We allow past problems and future concerns to dominate our present moments, so much so that we end up anxious, frustrated, depressed, and hopeless. On the flip side, we also postpone our gratification, our stated priorities, and our happiness, often convincing ourselves that "someday" will be better than today. Unfortunately, the same mental dynamics that tell us to look toward the future will only repeat themselves so that "someday" never actually arrives. John Lennon once said, "Life is what's happening while we're busy making other plans." When we're busy making "other plans," our children are busy growing up, the people we love are moving away and dying, our bodies are getting out of shape, and our dreams are slipping away. In short, we miss out on life. Many people live as if life were a dress rehearsal for some later date. It isn't. In fact, no one has a guarantee that he or she will be here tomorrow. Now is the only time we have, and the only time that we have any control over. When our attention is in the present moment, we push fear from our minds. Fear is the concern over events that might happen in the future -- we won't have enough money, our children will get into trouble, we will get old and die, whatever.

📖 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 # 9: Let Others Have the Glory Here's what you need to do: 1. Read it yourself, take time to reflect on it and make notes. 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 4 minutes. Be clear, and focus on expressing your ideas about the topic to practice real English speaking. No debates, just sharing thoughts. Article # 9 Let Others Have the Glory There is something magical that happens to the human spirit, a sense of calm that comes over you, when you cease needing all the attention directed toward yourself and instead allow others to have the glory. Our need for excessive attention is that ego-centered part of us that says, "Look at me. I'm special. My story is more interesting than yours." It's that voice inside of us that may not come right out and say it, but that wants to believe that "my accomplishments are slightly more important than yours." The ego is that part of us that wants to be seen, heard, respected, considered special, often at the expense of someone else. It's the part of us that interrupts someone else's story, or impatiently waits his turn to speak so that he can bring the conversation and attention back to himself. To varying degrees, most of us engage in this habit, much to our own detriment. When you immediately dive in and bring the conversation back toward you, you can subtly minimize the joy that person has in sharing, and in doing so, create distance between yourself and others. Everyone loses. The next time someone tells you a story or shares an accomplishment with you, notice your tendency to say something about yourself in response. Although it's a difficult habit to break, it's not only enjoyable but actually peaceful to have the quiet confidence to be able to surrender your need for attention and instead share in the joy of someone else's glory. Rather than jumping right in and saying, "Once I did the same thing" or "Guess what I did today," bite your tongue and notice what happens. Just say, "That's wonderful," or "Please tell me more," and leave it at that. The person you are speaking to will have so much more fun and, because you are so much more "present," because you are listening so carefully, he or she won't feel in competition with you. The result will be that the person will feel more relaxed around you, making him or her more confident as well as more interesting. You too will feel more relaxed because you won't be on the edge of your seat, waiting your turn. Obviously, there are many times when it's absolutely appropriate to exchange experience back and forth, and to share in the glory and attention rather than giving it all away. I'm referring here to the compulsive need to grab it from others. Ironically, when you surrender your need to hog the glory, the attention you used to need from other people is replaced by a quiet inner confidence that is derived from letting others have it.

Wow...another year has nearly passed. I have MUCH to be grateful for. The health of my family is most important to me. The happiness and growth of my two boys is next. The contentment of my wife follows. My amazing team that works the frontlines and behind the lines: Miguel, Gulya, Serge and Constance are my main shoulders. The rest of my coaches, staff and partners, in no particular order: Angie, Beth, Billy, Clive, Vinnie, Bob, Francis, Jas, Justin, Aholic, Gemma, Jaina, Khalil, Lan, Logan, Max, Mila, Milos, Ottih Ottih, Paul, Richard, King Richard, Rochelle, Ryan, Darren, Santa, Serge, Shub, Zoey, Rick, Bryce, Alex, Alex H, Russel, Stephanie and Kris. And I know there are a couple more I'm forgetting 😪 And of course, it goes without saying, I am so grateful to all of you. It's such a privilege to be able to be your English coach. To be able to work for you and ALWAYS enjoy every minute of it...that's a true blessing. Today is Thanksgiving, next we have Christmas and then the New Year. It'll be a very upbeat time for the next five weeks! I hope I am able to share that feeling with you all over the next five weeks and into 2026! In the US now, we are officially in "the Holiday Season". Today the greeting is "Happy Thanksgiving!" And from tomorrow a common greeting is "Happy Holidays!" Thank you all. I'm truly grateful. Your English coach, Shane

I met a super cute cat on campus.😼