Here we go.
English speaking practice.
We're going to listen to a story.
We're going to learn from it.
We're going to do some repeating and shadowing.
I'm just going to read.
You're going to listen.
And you can repeat when I pause.
When I pause, you can repeat sections, small chunks.
Or you can just try to say it with me if you want.
Here we go.
Sometimes we think we have all the time in the world.
Sometimes we think we have all the time in the world.
We work hard, save money. and plan for a future that feels so far away.
But what if the future never comes?
What if all we really have is today?
I never asked myself these questions until the night everything changed.
For years, my life was the same.
Wake up early, go to work, come home tired, sleep and repeat.
I worked hard, always telling myself that one day I would finally enjoy life.
But not yet.
Not until I had enough money.
I wore the same old clothes because buying new ones felt like a waste.
I drove an old car that rattled every time I hit a bump.
Vacations I skipped them.
Eating out?
Too expensive.
I watched my friends go on trips, buy nice things, and enjoy their lives.
I told myself they were being foolish that they weren't thinking about the future.
Security was more important than fun.
I had a plan.
Work hard now, live later.
It made sense until one rainy night when my whole life nearly ended.
The road was wet and the street lights reflected off the pavement.
I was driving home late from work, exhausted as usual.
My mind was on my savings account, my plans, my future.
Then in an instant, bright headlights, a blaring horn, Everything went black.
When I woke up, the world was quiet.
My body ached.
A dull beeping sound filled the room.
I was in a hospital.
A doctor stood beside me.
His face was calm, but his words hit me like a storm.
You're lucky to be alive.
Lucky?
My heart pounded.
What if I had died?
What would have happened to all the money I'd saved?
What would have happened to all the money I'd saved?
What was I waiting for?
Tears filled my eyes.
My whole life I had been saving for a future that almost never came.
I had been waiting to live, but for what?
Lying in that hospital bed, everything felt different.
The plain hospital soup tasted better than any meal I'd ever had.
The sunset outside my window looked more beautiful than I had ever noticed before.
For the first time in years, I was awake, truly awake.
I made myself a promise.
No more waiting.
No more someday.
Life was happening now.
I had almost lost it and I wasn't going to waste another moment.
When I finally left the hospital, the air felt fresher.
The world looked brighter.
I walked into my house, looked around and felt nothing.
The same old routine, the same old walls, the same old life.
I didn't want it anymore.
I opened my laptop and did something I never thought I would.
I booked a trip, a place I had always dreamed of, but never allowed myself to visit.
A beach town where the ocean stretched for miles.
Where the sun kissed the waves.
Where people laughed and really lived.
For the first time in my life, I packed a bag for something other than work.
At the airport, my hands shook and my heart raced.
I had never been on a plane before, but as it took off, Lifting me into the sky, I felt lighter than ever.
The first step onto the warm sand.
The first deep breath of salty air.
The first sunset over the ocean.
It was like I had been blind my whole life and was finally seeing.
I tasted fresh seafood, let the waves wash over my feet, and laughed with strangers.
I felt something I had never felt before.
Freedom.
Sitting by the ocean, watching the waves crash against the shore, I whispered to myself.
I waited too long.
But I won't wait anymore because the perfect time isn't later.
It's now.
All right.
Boom.
Good workout.
Good English speaking workout.
You can go ahead and redo the lesson again if you want to try and shadow again.
All right.
Keep moving forward one step at a time and I'll see you in the next practice video.
