ADVANCED SHADOWING American English Speaking Style STORY

are you ready to practice speaking English  welcome back English practicer we have a  

shadow story that means you're going to  Shadow me repeat after me say it with me  

all that good stuff the topic or title  is do as you wish okay this is just a  

fun little exercise a fun little story to  practice speaking English with here we go  

I'm too tired to take care of myself  I'm too tired to take care of myself

Imagine This your alarm goes off at  6 00 A.M imagine this your alarm goes  

off at six a.m immediately your chest  tightens immediately your chest tightens

with the usual mix of panic and Dread dread dread  is fear so your usual mix of panic and Dread  

the thought of another jam-packed day ahead so  you're thinking about another jam-packed day ahead  

a jam-packed means full packed tightly or  to excess so this word Jam is used like in  

traffic jam so there's lots of traffic or to  jam something in is to push something into  

for example luggage if you jam it in your  luggage and you make your luggage jam packed  

all right so at the thought of another  jam-packed day ahead you crack open an eye  

you crack an eye open and what the fudge this  is not a bad word it's okay to say this what  

the fudge it's a substitute word for the f word  and it's you it's commonly used what the fudge

a fairy godmother is standing  at the foot of your bed  

a fairy godmother is standing at the foot of  your bed she calls you by name and she says  

today you're completely free to do as you wish  today you are completely free to do as you wish

all your responsibilities are handled what's  that word handled mean do you know that one

yeah that means they're taken care of you  do not have to worry about it somebody else  

will do it it's being handled it's taken care  of so all your responsibilities are handled

you don't have to take care of anyone but yourself

you rub your eyes and blink hard is this  real you rub your eyes and blink hard

no you're not dreaming this is really happening  no you're not dreaming this is really happening

so she says you're a fairy godmother  what would you like to do today  

what would you like to do today

your mind races and you reply your  mind races what does that mean  

yeah that's right your mind is moving very  quickly you're thinking fast your mind is racing

well I I don't know I don't know what to do  if the idea of taking an hour to yourself  

if the idea of taking an hour to  yourself you could probably put  

four here I think both are fine taking  an hour for yourself an hour to yourself

much less a whole day much less a whole  day feels like an impossible fairy tale  

feels like an impossible fairy tale  

I understand remember we started that sentence  with if let's look at it all if the idea of  

taking an hour to yourself much less a whole day  feels like an impossible fairy tale I understand

you got that if you're not sure what you'd do  

what's the you'd contracted you would what you  would do so if you're not sure what you would do

with more time what would you do  with more time even if you had it  

you're not alone lots of people  don't know what to do with their time  

if you're not sure what you do with more  time even if you had it you're not alone  

if you're not sure what you do with more  time even if you had it you're not alone  

if you're not sure what you do with more  time even if you had it you're not alone  

like millions of good responsible humans  like millions of good responsible humans  

people you'd probably spend so much time  taking care of everyone else you probably  

spend so much time taking care of everyone else  that you've lost touch with your own desires  

you've you have lost touch what is lost  touch that means you no longer um you've  

lost communication with it or you you're ah I'm  I'm losing my what's the word I'm looking for  

I can't think of it okay so when you lose touch  with a friend that means you've lost communication  

with it with him or her or if you've lost touch  with your desire you no longer know what your  

desires are you no longer know you've lost touch  how was that all right in fact thousands of folks  

folks as people right thousands  of people thousands of folks  

who responded to a time and  productivity survey can relate  

in fact thousands of folks who responded  to a time in productivity survey can relate

they can relate to you they can relate to the fact  

that you've lost touch you don't know what to  do with your extra time here's what they said

I struggle with setting limits I struggle with  setting limits I'm at everyone's beck and call  

beck and call this is a good one you should  remember this one um if you're at someone's  

beck and call you always you're always  having to be ready to obey someone's order  

immediately so for example I have an assistant  who is at my beck and call or I'm tired of being  

at my wife's beck and call or you can say um uh  he's the king everyone is at his beck and call  

lots of different ways you can use  beck and call it's always used together

and that has become the norm Norm  normal that has become normal

I don't know how to commit to the  things I need to do for myself  

I don't know how to commit to the  things I need to do for myself  

with the demands of work and family with  the demand the demands of work and family

by the time I take care of myself  

I'm exhausted and useless by the time I take  care of myself I'm exhausted and useless

how can I Rise Up from the daily  duties of being a mom and wife

how can I Rise Up from the daily  duties of being a mom and wife

how can I find strength courage and  justification to honor my needs how can  

I find strength courage and justification  to honor my needs how can I find strength  

courage and justification to honor my needs  just shot on me all right if you feel like  

you don't even have time to dream if you  feel like you don't even have time to dream

because there's always something  or someone who needs your attention  

because there's always something  or someone who needs your attention

I have a crucial exercise for you crucial  crucial means very important I have a very  

important exercise for you I have a crucial  exercise for you to do take five minutes  

for yourself take five minutes okay take five  minutes grab a journal or a fresh sheet of paper

and use this writing prompt what's  a writing prompt writing prompt is  

just something to get you moving and  writing something that gets you started

as a young child what did you daydream about  as a young child what did you daydream about

or what did you love to do  when you were by yourself  

during secret play time what did you  love to do when you were by yourself

no matter how weird or silly it might seem now  no matter how weird or silly it might seem now  

oh wait it ends right there with a question mark  no matter how weird or silly it might seem now

I don't maybe that's a mistake let's go back  as a young child oh there it is what did you  

daydream about that's why it's a question mark  or love to do when you were by yourself during  

secret play time no matter how weird or  silly it might seem now what fascinated you

what enthralled you enthralled what's  enthralled mean that means capture your  

attention what captured your attention  when you were a child what enthralled you  

what talents or abilities or interests  might those early dreams point to

those childhood dreams early dreams childhood  dreams what talents or abilities or interests  

will those Early Childhood dreams point to

I promise your dreams are in there  

and they matter they matter they're important I  promise your dreams are in there and they matter

you have to dust them off something you  haven't used for a long time you dust  

it off so you have to dust off your old  dreams and this prompt will do the trick  

this prompt this writing prompt will help you  do that write down anything that comes to mind

even if it doesn't seem important

let your subconscious work it's magic

deep down let your subconscious work its magic  all right I think that's the end of this little  

story here I tried it I wrote down what I liked  to do when I was a child and I realized hmm I  

still do the same thing as an adult when I was a  child I loved to I love to do little challenges  

for example I would see uh a leaf on a tree and I  would throw a rock at it and try and knock it down  

or I would um get a stick and put it in the in  the water in the river and see how far I can make  

it go before it stopped or I would roll a marble  and see if I could go to an exact place or I would  

play with a ball and I would try to make the ball  do something like bounce ten times or anything  

I did lots of little little uh challenges that  had no meaning so now today I'm still doing that  

anyways I hope you enjoyed that good  workout thank you for practicing with me  

this has been step two six question  mark question mark I don't know  

I'm not sure which Step this is on our 10 000  step Journey you can get all the steps in practice  

paradise englishcoastchad.com  I'll see you in the next step