Welcome to a new episode of English Vocabulary Booster.
My name is Lara and I'm a SALSA certified English teacher.
Learning new vocabulary usually takes a long time, but we'll do it in a way that's easy, quick and efficient.
In every episode, we'll learn how to use five new English words or expressions, so that you too can start speaking like a native.
So let's get learning.
Hello, you guys.
How are you?
I've got a little bit of a confession.
So lately I've been feeling a little weird about recording this part of the podcast, the one before the story, just because usually I share stuff about my life.
But really lately I've been pre-recording a lot of the episodes and so by the time you know the episode that I'm recording comes out a lot of you know, a lot of things might have changed.
So I got to thinking and I thought hey, you know, maybe I could do like a separate episode or even a separate podcast about my life where I simply talk.
You know, obviously it wouldn't be focused on vocabulary.
But you know it'd be great if you guys want to.
I don't know if you want me to keep you company while you are on your jog or in your car.
I don't know.
If you want to practice your listening skills.
I don't know.
It's just an idea that I've had.
So I don't know if it's something that you guys might be interested in.
It would be basically just updates about my life, personal stuff, and I don't know, really.
I'm not entirely sure.
So let me know what you guys think.
You know, reach out to me and send me an email and either say Lara, this is the stupidest idea you've ever had.
Or, you know, yeah, that'd be great.
I would love to listen to that.
So yeah, I'll do anything you guys say, basically.
Alright, let's get right into it, and today we're going to talk about something pretty deep, because we're going to talk about fate.
Hello everyone and thank you for coming to our peaceful summer retreat.
My name is Esther and I'll be your meditation guide today.
Now that you're sitting comfortably, I want you to take a deep breath and leave all of your problems behind.
Be present.
Be present.
Focus on your breath.
Feel the warmth of the candles that are all around us.
Can you feel their warmth?
Yes.
Yes.
Yes.
Yeah.
Me too.
Now there is absolutely nothing to worry about.
Just breathe.
What's the smell?
Shh.
I said breathe.
Oh, um, Esther, I think there's a...
Problems are an illusion.
There is no such thing as problems.
What we consider problems are simply events.
Fate is what determines what happens.
And remember, fate is neither good nor bad.
Oh my gosh, I really think... The universe always knows what's best for us.
And whatever comes our way, we should just embrace it.
Esther, I'm sorry you're- So make peace with whatever problem you think you're experiencing in your life.
Stop seeing it as a problem.
Your boss doesn't treat you well.
Your neighbors are annoying.
So be it.
Esther, again, I'm so sorry, but- What's your name?
Um, Russell.
Esther- Russell.
Stop worrying.
What are you worried about?
Well, right now, about... Shh, don't even tell me.
I know, I can see it in you.
It's your job, isn't it?
You lost your job recently.
But trust me, the universe never makes mistakes.
Everything that's happening to you right now was meant to be.
You don't understand.
I do understand.
I was once like you.
I would stress over the smallest things.
But today, I'm here to tell you, you don't need to worry anymore.
Even if something horrible is happening, we can't control it anyway.
Okay, well, your hair's on fire.
But yeah, you know what?
Like you said, it was probably meant to happen anyway, so... What?
Oh my gosh!
I would like to dedicate this episode to my boyfriend, because he's always like don't worry, don't worry.
See, sometimes you need to worry.
All right, let's begin with expression number one, fate.
Fate is what determines what happens.
And remember, fate is neither good nor bad.
What is fate?
A type of power believed to control people's lives or a god?
Fate is a type of power that is believed to control people's lives.
Meaning, if you believe in fate, you believe that everything is predetermined.
That things happen because that's what they are supposed to happen, basically.
And now, do you believe in fate?
That is a big question.
So there's the rational side of me, I think, that doesn't believe in fate, okay?
I believe that you can choose your own path and that nothing really is predetermined.
So you can choose what you're going to do and what your life is going to be.
Now, there's also irrational Lara that kind of likes to believe in fate, right?
Meaning, I don't know.
I think it makes me feel good to think that maybe it's not, not everything is up to me, and just kind of pass on this responsibility to something else, like fate.
So I think if something bad happens, I can always say, hey, you know, it was fate.
Meaning, you know, I couldn't control it.
It's not my fault.
And it's something that I sometimes tell myself.
So yeah, a part of me wants to believe in fate, but the rational side of me doesn't believe in fate.
Expression number two, embrace.
And whatever comes our way, we should just embrace it.
If you embrace a situation, do you do whatever is in your power to stop it or control it?
Or do you accept it?
If you embrace a change or a situation or something that's happening, that means that you are accepting it.
You're not doing anything to stop it.
You're not doing anything to control it.
You're simply like, all right, fine, let's go bring it on.
And if you embrace a situation or an idea, do you accept it eagerly or reluctantly?
So with enthusiasm or not so much?
Yes.
So the thing about embracing a situation is that it implies that not only are you doing it, not only are you accepting it, but you're also doing it eagerly.
So with enthusiasm.
So you're not just like, oh, fine, okay, whatever, let's do it.
You're just like, yes, okay, this is what's supposed to be.
Let's go.
I'm going to be as happy as I can about this.
Is it easy for you to embrace changes?
I think I'm a pretty flexible person, just because I've been traveling a lot and moving a lot.
So I've come to be pretty flexible.
And I think it's fairly easy for me to embrace changes.
But so whenever you know, something changes something big changes in my life, whether it's a new job or a new country or a new whatever, really anything I think I'm pretty good at embracing those changes and just being really positive about them.
But if I'm not the one deciding to make the change, then it's a little bit different.
In that case, it's not so easy for me to embrace changes.
Expression number three, make peace with something.
So make peace with whatever problem you think you're experiencing in your life.
If you make peace with something, do you learn to accept it or do you get upset just thinking about it?
If you make peace with a problem or something, a situation that you're struggling with, that means that you finally learned to accept it.
So you're no longer upset when you think about it.
And is there a problem that you used to face that you have now made peace with?
I think the biggest thing is probably me being an introvert.
So it's something that I think I've known for a while now, but for the longest time ever.
It was really hard for me to accept the fact that I was an introvert.
And so I don't like big groups.
I don't like Social events where you have a lot of chaos, a lot of noise, a lot of people.
I don't like small talk, and I think I have youtube to thank for this because Um, I watched a lot of videos that made me realize that I wasn't like super weird, I was just I had This kind of personality and that's it and, and so I think Over the last few years, I have started to make peace with this side of my personality.
And I'm not going to lie, it's not always the easiest thing, especially when I go to a social event and I don't feel super comfortable.
I still struggle to this day, but I am definitely learning to make peace with the side of me.
Expression number four, so be it.
Your boss doesn't treat you well, your neighbors are annoying, so be it.
If you say so be it, does that mean you accept a situation or not?
Once again, yes, if you say so be it, that means that you are fully accepting a situation.
And why do you accept it?
Because you cannot control it or because you don't want to control it.
This is really interesting.
The expression so be it is usually used when you are done trying to control a situation.
And usually you say it because you're frustrated because you haven't seen any changes.
So, for example, I don't know you have a friend that's been smoking for the longest time and for the longest time you've been trying to get them to quit, you know, and you might get to a point where you're so frustrated that you don't want to try and help this friend anymore.
You don't want to try to control this situation anymore.
So what you're going to say is, all right, you know what?
He wants to keep smoking.
So be it.
Meaning that's it.
I don't want to try and help them anymore.
I'm going to just let things be.
They can continue to do whatever they want to do, even if it hurts them.
That's the idea behind so be it.
Was there ever a time when you wished you could have changed something, but instead you just thought so be it.
I think the best example of this would be what happened between me and my sister Paola.
You know, we've had a pretty rough relationship for years now.
And I remember, you know, we would always fight and then we would make up.
You know, I really don't have anything against her personally.
But she would get mad for the smallest things.
And I just don't deal well with those types of people where you always have to watch your words or you have to watch what you do.
I just don't feel comfortable around those people.
And a few years back I think it was probably two years ago she died, did something on purpose that really hurt me.
And you know, up until that point I was always trying to make sure that, you know, even if we didn't have the best relationship, at least we could still have a relationship.
But I remember two years ago just thinking, you know what, she doesn't want to be nice, and to me, then so be it.
I'm not gonna try to get her to be nicer to me if she doesn't want to, whatever I.
I just didn't want that stress in my life anymore and so yeah, That's probably the last time I thought you know what?
You want to do that?
So be it.
I'm not going to try to fix the situation anymore.
Expression number five, it is meant to be.
Everything that's happening to you right now was meant to be.
So if you say something is meant to be, does that mean you believe it will happen or not?
Yes, you believe that something will happen.
If you say, oh, it is meant to be, it means it's destined to happen.
And if you say it was meant to be, that means you thought it was destined to happen.
And if you say that something is meant to be, who do you think controls what will happen?
If you say that something is meant to be, you are implying that that's because fate or the universe, or whatever force you believe in, controls that event.
So when something happens and it can be either something good or something bad but whenever something happens and you feel like destiny played a role, you can say oh, it was meant to be.
Do you ever tell yourself maybe it was meant to be?
So I'm going to kind of repeat what I said at the beginning of the episode, because I said that I don't believe in fate.
But I do use this expression, you know, pretty often.
I often say, you know, it was meant to be or the opposite.
It wasn't meant to be.
And I think that makes me feel a little bit better when something doesn't turn out the way I thought it would.
Just saying maybe it wasn't meant to be.
Kind of makes me feel like maybe the universe has bigger plans for me and maybe I was going in the wrong direction and fate or destiny wants to point me in the right direction.
So I'll give you an example.
Not too long ago, my boyfriend and I were planning our trip.
And at the beginning, we thought we were going to travel through France.
So we were planning on spending probably three months in France.
And then we simply could not find an apartment that would work for us.
And we looked.
And every time that we sent a request...
We would get rejected.
And so I, you know, could do two things.
Either I could get really frustrated and I could make it a goal of mine to just absolutely find a place for us to stay in France.
Or... which is what I did, I simply said, you know what?
Maybe it wasn't meant to be.
Maybe we were meant to spend three months in France.
And so we changed our itinerary and we're going to be doing something a little bit different.
Again, do I really think it wasn't meant to be?
Maybe not.
But it makes you feel good because you know, at least you think hey, I'm not the one making this decision.
And that is it for today.
And remember, if you want to access the transcript, as well as lots of other resources, visit enboocom.
That is E-N-B-O-O-O dot com.
Have a great day.
