Showing posts with label Word of the Day - exercises. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Word of the Day - exercises. Show all posts

Story about the news and more

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I want to start my story by saying that I’m on a diet of positive emotions.

 

There is a lot of negativity going on in this world. When you turn on the TV for example, usually what you hear are the news about wars, hoax calls, bomb explosions, people who are injured or killed, death toll. And that’s just the tip of the iceberg.

 

Rescue workers wearing hard hats, creeping through a gap, looking for survivors after an earthquake. All around them collapsed buildings, twisted bits of metal, jagged chunks of reinforced concrete, terrible destruction…

 

Nowadays, it has become much more frequent on the news to see the devastation caused by natural disasters.

 

I would never forget the man on the TV with a handful of soil in his hands, looking desperately at the sky, scanning it for signs of rain. On all sides, there were withered crops and cracked earth.  He was in despair because of the severe drought.

 

Whereas, in some parts of the world, there is no rain, in another parts, there is too much.

Recently, I’ve seen pictures on Facebook from one of my Canadian friends – his area has been severely flooded. People were wading thigh-deep in the muddy water, trying to salvage their property which was floating about. It was devastating to look at those scenes and to witness the despair of the people.

 

So I have decided, enough is enough! And I cut off the supply of the negativity. I no longer watch TV or listen to the radio, specifically the news. I may follow some of the news on the Internet, but I decide which one to see. I’m in control.

 

Like Dean Graziosi says - News drains our confidence and causes us to slip into a fear-based mentality.

Do you agree? What’s your opinion? How much does hearing negativity in the news take away from your ability to embrace the positive things in the world?

 

In the health-conscious time we are living in, we pay so much attention to the food we eat, to physical exercises, going to the gym, but we fail to take care of our minds and souls.

We need high-quality food for our body if we want to be healthy. But the same goes for our mind, too. We need to feed it with positive food, as well. That’s why I try to nurture my mind regularly with positivity by reading, watching, listening to inspirational books, videos, podcasts. That’s why I’m on a diet of positive emotions. If you focus on something, it grows. If you dwell on the negativity, it becomes double negative. But if you focus on the positive, it become double positive. Beware of where your focus is!

 

Increase the daily diet of positive emotions and positive words! It is very important with what you feed your mind.

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Download my other stories for free here - English with Inspirational Stories by Dimi +  more – get the gift of positivity - three of my books  

 

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The toolbox and the boy

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Retell the story using the words in bold letters

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Every day, the 4-year-old boy went with his father to his work and watched him how he fixed different devices. His father was a technician. One day, when the father wasn’t at home, the boy decided to surprise him for his birthday and show what he learned. He saw the new radio and was very curious what is inside of it. He found his father’s toolbox and from the first time, he managed to unscrew the screws with the Phillips screwdriver and to open the radio. The boy was so happy from his success that decided to take apart the whole radio. When the father came home, he gasped in disbelief. His son cried:

– Dad, look at what I’ve done - a present for your birthday. I’m a technician like you. I took apart the new radio. I can use the screwdriver.

At first, the father went mad since it was the new radio and his son took his toolbox without asking him. Then he thought to himself – There is no point in shouting at the kid or worse, beating him.

Instead of that, he hugged him and said:

– You are going to become a big technician, but true technicians not only take apart, true technicians should be able to reassemble, too.

– Dad, you’re right. But I have other surprise for you, too. Show me an instrument from your toolbox and I’ll tell you its name.

The father smiled:

– Well, let’s see.

He showed

 

1.    screwdriver

2.    Phillips screwdriver

3.    wrench

4.    pliers

5.    nail

6.    washer

7.    nut

8.    wood screw

9.    machine screw

10. bolt

11. monkey wrench

 

and the boy guessed all of them right. The father couldn’t believe it. He was over the moon, extremely pleased and happy. That was a great present for his birthday, indeed. Gift with a bow

– Now, let’s resemble the radio, son. Will you help me?

– You bet! Smile

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What would you do if you were in the place of the father? What would you say to your son?

 

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Missing - Story

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After work, I was sitting in the park with my cousin. While she was eating her dessert, I was surfing the net. I was looking at the stock-market figures, reading the newspaper, consulting my personal organizer... I was deeply absorbed in what I was doing. When I finished, my cousin smiled at me and said:
– Did you know what you’ve just missed?
– What? – said I with tired voice.
– A good-looking young man, well-groomed and smartly-dressed, greeted us. He seemed to be a friend of yours.
– Wow, really?
– And you were so rude to him!
– Who? Me?!
– Yes, you didn’t pay any attention to him. But he said, he understands that your attention is rapt. He is like you. He alleviates boredom with video games. That’s a great way to stimulate your imagination. And that’s the modern way of letting off steam and escaping the humdrum reality.
– What?! But I didn’t play any games. What did that guy look like?
– You know, I have difficulty remembering faces…
– I see. I shouldn’t be so oblivious to the world around me. I’ll take notice from now on. You never know, who you are going to miss out.
– Yeah, right. But before everything else, you miss the many beautiful things around you like the beautiful landscape, the lovely Me sitting next to you :-)
– Sorry, sweetheart…You know, I love you!
– I know, but I don’t feel it. When I’m with you, you are always working on the computer, surfing the net, chatting…

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The triumph of mind over matter - Story

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I was attracted by a cover of a magazine. There was a man with budging muscles wearing an expression of determination. Since at the moment, I’m very much interested in workouts and physical exercises, I decided to open it and to see what was inside.
Inside, there was a story of a man who was a very successful weight lifter, but he had a car accident. That car accident paralyzed his lower body. He struggled for many years. Eventually, he managed to get back on track and even participate in a run in a specially-adapted wheelchair. His fight was visible during that run. He was straining with effort, drenched in sweat. He was on the verge of collapse many times. But he refused to accept defeat and his efforts were crowned with success. He won the third place, the bronze medal.
But what’s more important, he overcame his limitations. I was deeply inspired by his willpower and strong character - The triumph of mind over matter thing.
 
“Energy of will, self-originating force, is the soul of every great character. Where it is, there is life; where it is not, there is faintness, helplessness, and despondency.”
“Let it be your first study to teach the world that you are not wood and straw; that there is some iron in you.”
(Wise words from An Iron Will by Orison Swett Marden)
 
Hope that short story to inspire you to be more determined, patient and persistent :-) Follow your dreams with fire each and every day! Be a Hero :-)

Do you want more inspirational stories like this one? :-) Download three of my inspirational books + The Freedom Journal for free here Gift with a bowRainbowSmileSun https://inspirationdimi.wixsite.com/dimi/my-books


 
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1.    Retell the story using the words in bold
2.    Prepare the speaking activities from the pdf file

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Singing Story

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My first experience in a heavy traffic jam was both a test of patience and a test of inspiration. I was in bumper-to-bumper traffic. That traffic really made me feel tired. At some point, the cars stayed in gridlock for more than an hour. I started to get irritated. At that moment, I remembered that a guy from Moscow managed to learn many different languages in traffic jams simply by listening to CDs. Since, I didn’t bring any CDs with me and I didn’t have mobile Internet, I decided to turn on the radio. The news was just horrible: Everything went up in flames; palls of smoke; blazing, raging fires… I couldn’t stand it anymore and turned off the radio. Then I decided that this is a wonderful opportunity. I could use that situation as an inspiration for a new song. So here we go :-)

  I’M SINGING (by Dimita)

I’m in bumper-to-bumper traffic,
in gridlock
But I’m not grind to a halt
I’m singing

I’m singing
about the heavy traffic
I’m singing
about blazing, raging fires
about the saddening atmosphere
I’m singing
about the carelessness of the people,
the deliberate disregard
of the long-term consequences
I’m singing
about the palls of smoke
that obscure the scene
The palls of smoke
of egoism and greed
I’m singing
:-)

You may think I was crazy, but I was happy. I just sang my heart out.
After three hours, I was finally able to get out of the town. As I was approaching the suburbs, I saw a beautiful landscape. My car sped along the dusty highway to that idyllic landscape. When I reached that place, however, I started to choke. Even though the windows of my car were closed, I still could feel the intolerable stench of the open dump. There were discarded household goods burst open and spilled out everywhere. The stifling atmosphere was disgusting. That open dump marred an otherwise idyllic landscape. But I smiled and thought - Another inspiration for a song, right? :-) What would you say?

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1.    Retell the story using the words in bold
2.    Prepare the speaking activities from the pdf file

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My Transformational Story

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I was leading a very sedentary lifestyle. I was sitting in front of the computer the whole day. My work started at 9 am and finished at 9 pm. That was all day, really all day in front of the computer. When I came home, I usually lolled back in my chair. Then I turned on the TV and from a mouse potato I turned into a couch potato.

I was pasty-faced with chubby cheeks. And I constantly felt listless. Since I didn’t have energy to prepare something for cooking after work, I ate a lot of junk food. I put on weight quickly. At some moment, I reached 100 kg. It was difficult for me to climb up the stairs. I was panting. I felt dizzy even when I was sitting. I needed energy, so almost every day, I drank one liter of Coke and ate an enormous amount of ice cream. My medicine, however, was chocolate. When I felt bad, I ate 10 bars of chocolate and I immediately felt good. Everything was too much and in my case too much sugar.

One day when I was going to work, I saw an elderly couple who were taking a brisk walk. They were in tracksuits and they were glowing with health. I was very impressed by them. Later, my friend pushed me by sharing that his sister did something like me in the past. Now, she has diabetes. She is not able to walk and she uses wheelchair. Movement is extremely important. Movement is life.

So these were the things which forced me to start the change.

I felt it’s high time I changed. I cut out all the sugar, especially soft drinks and junk food.  I became health-conscious and started paying more attention to what I eat. The result was obvious. Only through those actions, I lost 25 kg for 2 years. My love handles were gone. No headache and dizziness anymore. No panting when climbing the stairs. I felt like a new person. Last year, I started doing physical exercises, too. That was the moment, I started to feel really invigorated and full of beans. Every morning, I did 5 minutes stretching. Later during the day, I added sit-ups, push-ups, bicycle crunches, lunges. I did arm curls and side bends with my dumb-bells. Now, my dream is to try pull-ups but we’ll see.
I highly recommend Shape Your Body Workout by Cindy Crawford. That’s my favorite one absolutely.

After doing plenty of exercises and being on a healthy diet for 4 years now, I'm fit as a fiddle. At the moment, I’m 60 kg (160 cm) and I feel wonderful. I’m more productive, too. Exercise does boost the brainpower. Exercise gives you energy and movement really melts away the stress. Movement is life and life is movement, indeed.

It was challenging and difficult at the beginning. But “if something doesn’t challenge you, it doesn’t change you” (Fred Devito).

Here, I’d love to add something very important – the diet of positive emotions :-) I try to increase the diet of positive emotions every day. Positive emotions do help us to become more resilient to the setbacks. Positive emotions help us to thrive.

Sending you lots of positive emotions on your road to success! Never ever give up!

Hope my story to inspire you to take actions and initiate a positive change in your life, too.

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1.    Retell the story using the words in bold
2.    Prepare the speaking activities from the pdf file

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Pronunciation Challenge Day 1 - Story

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I. Practice the pronunciation of the words with http://www.oxfordlearnersdictionaries.com/

1.    anonymous
2.    representative
3.    negotiation
4.    event
5.    call
6.    rebel
7.    involvement
8.    underline
9.    isolate
10. breakthrough

II. Prepare to retell the story:

I was reading a book when the phone rang. It was an anonymous call. I’ve decided to pick up the phone. It was a representative of a famous company. He wanted to sell me some of the company's products. He constantly underlined the fact that their product is the best. If I bought it, it would help me to make a breakthrough. I rebelled. We started even negotiations. Of course, I didn’t buy but I agreed on attending their special Christmas event. So in some way, he managed to involve me.

III. Record yourself and send your audio files to me!


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My 9 Declarations of Personal Power

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Inspired by Brendon Burchard and his book – Motivation Manifesto, here I’m sharing

My 9 Declarations of Personal Power (Taken and inspired by his amazing book. You can get it for free here http://motivationmanifesto.com/ )

1.  What would happen if my choices and actions were broadcast on the evening news—would I be proud of them?
Think before you act!

2.  Since I’m very sensitive, I have found my answer - even bought a bright green bracelet to remind me of it - “Integrity is learning to feel hurt but release the negative emotion quickly and do not integrate its darkness into your soul or cast it onto another.” 
Maturity is realizing that hurt or any other emotion is like happiness – it is a conscious choice, the way we interpreted the situation, the meaning we put to it. It may be true, it may be not. It doesn’t matter. What matters is to release the negative quickly. First of all, it is detrimental to your health! Substitute the frowns with the dimples from your beautiful smile :-)
Release the negative quickly!

3.  See the divinity in others, and never invite disrespect in our lives by projecting disrespect on others.
Don’t judge! Always treat others with respect!

4.    Action becomes character. Our actions are creating a character that will stand tall or shrink into the darkness of regret.
Always favor action!

5.    Hurt has nothing to do with love, and love is unaffiliated with and unaffected by pain. Ego was hurt, not love. Love is divine; it is everywhere, ever present and abundant and free. It is a spiritual energy that is, at this very moment, flowing through the universe—through us, through our enemies, through our families, through billions of souls. It was never absent from our lives. It is not bound in our hearts or in our relationships, and thus it is not capable of being owned or lost. We have allowed our awareness of love to diminish; that is all.
Amplify Love!

6.    Take time for the people you love otherwise time will take them away from you!
“I thought there would be more time to…” -The time is now! Tell them I love you, show it, prove it while you still can. Like Brendon Burchard says - Live fully, love openly, make your difference today!
Take time for the people you love!

7.   We are not supposed to miss this moment, this life. What would happen to the quality of our life and relationships if we simply amplified our senses just a little longer?
I love TWO BEATS LONGER by Brendon Burchard.

Let us hold this moment for just two beats longer.

·      Do not breathe so quickly. Take in air for two beats longer.

·     Do not gulp down the next meal but savor each bite for two beats longer, let the tastes melt and linger.

·     Do not send a heartless note. Read it once more and spend two beats longer sensing the pain it may cause another.

Life is lived in the extra beats we hold as time unfolds. Slow time!

8.   “I want this, not that” - I want to be successful but at the same time I don’t want to lose my health and family.
Balance is the key!

9.    When you are in love, you want to be as much as possible with the person you love, to know him deeply. You are living for the next meeting, for the next kiss. You are thirsty!
Be thirsty for piano and music – my boyfriend ;-)
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Discussion question – What declarations would you add to your Manifesto?
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7 LEADERSHIP PRINCIPLES FROM AN EAGLE

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7 LEADERSHIP PRINCIPLES TO LEARN FROM AN EAGLE

1. Eagles fly alone and at high altitudes. They don't fly with sparrows, ravens and other small birds.

MEANING: Stay away from narrow minded people, those that bring you down.
Eagles flies with eagles. Keep good company.

2. Eagles have accurate vision. They have the ability to focus on something as far as 5 km away. No matter the obstacles, the eagle will not move his focus from the prey until he grabs it.

MEANING: Have a vision and remain focused no matter what the obstacles and you will succeed.

3. Eagles do not eat dead things. They feed only on fresh preys.

MEANING: Do not rely on your past successes; keep looking for new frontiers to conquer. Leave your past where it belongs, in the past.

4. Eagles love the storm. When clouds gather, the eagle gets excited; the eagle uses the storms wind to lift itself higher. Once it finds the wind of the storm, the eagle uses the raging storm to lift itself above the clouds. This give the eagle an opportunity to glide and rest its wings. In the meantime, all the other birds hide in the branches and leaves of the tree.

MEANING: Face your challenges head on knowing that these will make you emerge stronger and better than you were. We can use the storms of life to rise to greater heights. Achievers are not afraid to rise to greater heights. Achievers are not afraid of challenges, rather they relish them and use them profitably.

5. When a female eagle meets a male eagle and they want to mate, she flies down to earth, pick a twig and flies back into the air with the male eagle in hot pursuit. Once she has reached a height high enough for her, she drops the twig and let it fall to the ground while she watches. The male eagle chases after the twig and catches it before it reaches the ground, then brings it back to the female eagle. The female eagle grabs the twig and flies to a much higher altitude and drops the twig again for the male eagle to chase. This goes on for hours with the height increasing each time until the female eagle is assured that the male eagle has mastered the art of picking the twig which shows commitment. Then and only then will she allow him to mate with her.

MEANING: Whether in private life or business, one should test the commitment of the people intended for partnership.

6. Eagles prepare for trainings. They remove the feathers and soft grass in the nest so that the young ones get uncomfortable in preparation for flying and eventually fly when it becomes unbearable to stay in the nest.

MEANING: Leave your comfort zone; there is no growth there.

7. When the eagle grows old, his feathers becomes weak and cannot take him as fast and as high as it should. This makes him weak and could make him die. So he retires to a place far away in the mountains. While there, he plucks out the weak feathers on his body and breaks its beaks and claws against the rocks until he is completely bare; a very bloody and painful process. Then he stays in this hiding place until he has grown new feathers, new beaks and claws and then he comes out flying higher than before.

MEANING: We occasionally need to shed off old habits no matter how difficult; things that burden us or add no value to our lives should be let go of.

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EVERYBODY DIES, BUT NOT EVERYBODY LIVES

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EVERYBODY DIES, BUT NOT EVERYBODY LIVES - Prince Ea


It is not death most people are afraid of.

It is getting to the end of life, only to realize that you never truly lived.

NEVER TRULY LIVED

There was a study done, a hospital study on 100 elderly people facing death close to their last breath. They were asked to reflect about their life’s biggest regret.

BIGGEST REGRET

Nearly all of them said they regretted not the things they did but the things they didn’t do.

DIDN’T DO

The risks they never took, the dreams they didn’t pursue.

DIDN’T PURSUE

I ask you would your last words be; if only I had – hey, you wake up.

HEY YOU

Why do you exist? Life is not meant to simply work, wait for the weekend and pay rent. No, no I don’t know much. But I know this every person on this earth has a gift.

GIFT

And I apologized to the black community but I can no longer pretend Martin Luther King.

MARTIN LUTHER KING

That man never had a dream, that dream had him.

PEOPLE DON’T CHOOSE DREAMS
DREAMS CHOOSE THEM

See people don’t choose dreams, dreams choose them. So the question I’m getting to is, do you have the courage to grab the dream that picked you?

COURAGE

That befit you and grips you; or will you let it get away and slip through?

You know I learned a fact about airplanes the other day. This was – this was so surprising to see, I was talking to a pilot and he told me that many of his passengers think planes are dangerous to fly in. But he said actually, it is a lot more dangerous for a plane to stay on the ground. I say what? Like how does that sound what he said, he said because on the ground. The plane starts to rust.

RUST
MALFUNCTION
WEAR

Malfunction and wear, much faster than it ever would if it was in the air. As I walked away I thought, yeah, makes total sense because planes were built to live in the skies. And every person was built to live out the dream they have inside. So it is perhaps the saddest loss to live a life on the ground without ever taking off.

TAKING OFF

See most of us are afraid of the thief, they comes in the night to steal all of our things. But there is a thief in your mind who is after your dreams. His name is doubt.

DOUBT

If you see him call the cops and keep him away from the kids because he is wanted for murder. So he has killed more dreams than failure ever did. He wears many disguises and like a virus will leave you blinded, divided and turn you into a kinda.

BLINDED
DIVIDED

“KINDA”

See kinda is lethal. You know what kinda is? There is a lot of kinda people, you kinda want a career change, you kinda want to get straight A’s, you kinda want to get in shape. Simple math, no numbers to crunch. If you kinda want something, then you will kinda get the results you want.

What is your dream? What ignites that spark. You can’t kinda want that, you got to want it with every part of your whole heart. Will you struggle? Yeah, yeah… you will struggle, no way around it. You will fall many times, but who’s counting? Just remember, there’s no such thing as a smooth mountain.

SMOOTH MOUNTAIN

If you want to make it to the top then, there are sharp ridges that have to be stepped over. There will be times you get stressed and things you get depressed over. But let me tell you something. Steven Spielberg was rejected from film school three times, three times but he kept going.

KEPT GOING

The television execs fired Oprah said she was unfit for TV but she kept going. Critics told Beyoncé that she couldn’t sing she went through depression. But she kept going.

KEPT GOING

STRUGGLE & CRITICISM

Struggle and criticisms are prerequisites for greatness. That is the law of this universe and no one escapes it. Because pain is life but you can choose what type? Either the pain on the road to success or the pain of being haunted with regret.

REGRET

You want my advice. Don’t think twice.

DON’T THINK TWICE

We have been given a gift that we call life.

LIFE

So don’t blow it. You’re not defined by your past instead you were born anew in each moment. So own it now.

SO OWN IT NOW

Sometimes you’ve got to leap. And grow your wings on the way down. You better get the shot off before the clock runs out because there is ain’t no over time in life, no do over. And I know what sound like I’m preaching on speaking with force but if you don’t use your gift then you sell not only yourself, but the whole world. Short.

SHORT

So what invention that you have buried in your mind? What idea?

IDEA
CURE
SKILL

What cure? What skill did you have inside to bring out to this universe?

UNI = ONE
VERSE = SONG

Uni meaning one, verse meaning song, you have a part to play in this song.

ONE SONG

So grab that microphone and be brave. Sing your heart out on life’s stage. You cannot go back and make a brand new beginning. But you can start now and make a brand new ending.

A BRAND NEW ENDING

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