Shadowing Practice: Take care of yourself! - Learn English Speaking with Video
Creating lesson...
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Hi, hello.
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I hope we're doing well today.
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I have my little Christmas mug.
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Look at that!
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And I'm wishing everyone a happy holidays wherever you are in the world.
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And if the holidays are a little bit difficult for you, I'm sending you so much love and I see you
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and I validate everything you're going through and I hope that things get better for you.
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This was a good year and this is a good latte.
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I learned so much this year
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and I just want to take a moment to reflect on everything
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and have a little bit of vulnerability
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and honesty about exactly where my headspace was at this year
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but also just reflect on what the fuck even was 2025
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because i felt it you felt it everything was
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so unpredictable to what was happening in the world to what
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was happening in our own lives on a personal level it was nothing i could have anticipated was actually going to happen.
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And I started the year with a certain set of goals that I wanted to achieve New Year's resolutions.
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But through the course of the year, because of the unpredictability of the year, it was almost like those things didn't even matter to me anymore because I was a completely different person.
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It was funny because I went to a Christmas party the other day and there were a whole bunch of people there.
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Everyone was lovely.
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Everyone was a friend of mine.
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And it felt just so wholesome and nice to get to sit down and have that kind of
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community and experience and a room full of people who love each other
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and who care for each other and take care of one another
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and i'm ending the year with
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so much community i mean how we grew this community on
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social media we grew instagram to like half a million followers
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like you guys are freaking insane i just want to take a moment to say
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that just because i never could have anticipated
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or known that simply sharing who I am
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and choosing to have a voice
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and choosing to share how I'm feeling could not only have this kind of impact
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but could reach this many people and help this many people by just being vulnerable about who I am.
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And all it's taught me is that there is so much beauty in being authentically yourself and being vulnerable and emotional.
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I was always told to be quiet.
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I was always told to simmer down, just kind of like be seen, not heard.
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And that's who I was.
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I was just extremely shy, didn't speak.
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And then when I finally did speak, the fact that I had this level of impact by simply just choosing to be seen
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and choosing to be heard is phenomenal.
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And it's not only a lesson to me, but it's a lesson to you also, that the more you are open and the more you allow yourself to be seen for who you are,
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no matter how scary, it is always a good thing to be authentic
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and vulnerable because let me walk you through what my headspace was this year.
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I've been trying to avoid very very deeply this entire year that I'm actually sick.
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We know I have Ehlers-Danlos.
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We know I have POTS.
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That's not new news around these parts here folks.
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Around here folks.
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Around these parts here folks.
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Whatever that saying is.
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But and I feel like this whole year I've been trying to run away from
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that fact or prove that yes I'm sick
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but I can still do this
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and it reached such a point where it's like I was running I wanted to run a half marathon
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but my bones physically don't function the way another person's do
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so I ran seven miles and I ended up pinching something in my spine
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and injuring it so bad getting a compression injury in my spine, couldn't walk for four days,
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and that's not normal or predictable or good.
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Same with school.
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Mental stress also affects people with Ehlers-Danlos the same way that physical stress does.
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So as you're putting yourself through all those tests, as you're memorizing all that information, as you're studying, you are physically taxing yourself out.
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And I made myself exhausted to the point
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that i didn't want to talk to anyone i didn't want
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to go anywhere i got severely depressed my body started having physical symptoms
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because we were talking about it i was talking about it with another friend how your emotions
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and your emotional state will cause your body to produce physical symptoms meaning
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that if you are constantly sad or constantly stressed or constantly angry
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your body will feel that and start to treat it as disease, meaning that there will be physical symptoms that manifest.
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And take that with a grain of salt, because I'm not saying like you can manifest your own diabetes, because that's a weird statement and factually untrue.
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But if you're sad 24-7, that can manifest into wanting to stay in and sleep 24-7.
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That can manifest into eating too much or too little.
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That can manifest into body aches.
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That can manifest into depression, you know?
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And all I did this year was just stress myself the fuck out
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because I thought that was what I needed to do.
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Because I've been treating myself like I'm a problem that needs to be fixed.
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And it reached such a peak, such a point, that after finals,
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the only thing that I was physically and mentally capable of doing was sitting on my bed and painting some sunflowers.
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And I painted this ridiculous drawing of these sunflowers and it took like four or five hours
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and I was watching a whole bunch of old movies because I've never seen The Godfather.
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I've never seen How to Lose a Guy in 10 Days.
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Like all of these old classics, I've never seen them and I was like that's ridiculous that I've never seen these movies.
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And I'm sitting on my bed and I'm painting these sunflowers and I'm feeling so alive for just a second.
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I finally felt like my chest relaxed because throughout the semester
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and throughout when I was running I would always get these like horrible stabbing heart pains.
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I don't know what they were.
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I still don't.
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But it would be like, I would just be sitting on my bed and then all of a sudden it felt like my heart was getting squeezed.
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And it was like so intense and it felt like I couldn't breathe.
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It felt like I couldn't breathe when it happened.
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I like, I couldn't take a deep breath.
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And when the semester ended and when I stopped running, immediately those heart pains stopped and they never started again and everything was fine.
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But I'm sitting in my bed and I don't feel the heart pain.
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I actually feel my chest like relaxing.
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I feel my whole body relaxing.
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I feel my mind relaxing.
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And I'm like, wow, this is it.
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This is actually how life is supposed to feel.
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It's not about the chasing and the accomplishing and the conquering
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and the fearing and the upholding and the rising and the chasing.
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It's about the little moments like this where you actually feel like your heart has a home within your own body.
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It's in the little moments where you're sitting in a room full of people you love
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and you just you thank god for a second
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that the universe has given you the great fortune of living in a world with eight billion people
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and you somehow met the room full of people
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that feel like home you thank the universe for just a second
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that you have food in your fridge
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and you have money in your bank account
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and you don't have to worry
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and you have things to look forward to in this life
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and if you want to go outside
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and take a walk you can just take a walk
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because your legs allow you to do that and it is
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so hard to be grateful when you are stressed and it is
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so hard to be grateful when you are doing things out of obligation
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and not out of love and it is so hard to be grateful
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when you are falling prey to hustle culture and you believe
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that the purpose of your life is to destroy yourself
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that you were born somehow broken and not born beautiful
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because that's what i fell prey to this year i had
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this notion like you know what yeah i was diagnosed with ellers daniel i was diagnosed with pots
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but i'm gonna keep going anyway and i'm not gonna stop
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and you know doesn't matter that i'm sick doesn't matter
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that i'm chronically ill i'm strong and i'm powerful
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and i'm gonna keep going no matter what my body even
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though it's breaking down around me doesn't matter my soul shines through honey i know
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that your soul is resilient but you're in a body
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and you can't neglect the flesh you were given and
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so for the last couple weeks school ended on the 13th we ended up we ended finals on the 13th
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and i stopped running like last month
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when it started getting really cold in the mornings
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and i was like okay it's a little bit too cold to go running out there
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so i just went for walks instead and i started drinking more tea
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and i started painting more and i started writing the first chapter of my book
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and I started being consistent with my skincare routine
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and I started calling my loved ones on the phone more
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and it's funny because I've been trying
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so hard this year to make different opportunities work to make different things work to try
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and you know I was trying to shadow psychologists
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and get people to write me back
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and trying to pull together all these different strings to try
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and like get a big win for the year that was my thing I just wanted one big win.
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I didn't want my work to be in vain that I did this year.
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I wanted a win, right?
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And it was funny because I'm someone that believes in spirituality a little bit.
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If you don't, take this next sentence with a grain of salt.
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When you are calm and when you are grateful, it opens up your heart, soul, and life to receive miracles.
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I think that if you were always and constantly bitter, no matter your circumstance, it's very hard for the universe to meet you halfway.
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And there's the whole ideology that like your mindset creates your life meaning
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that like if you are an energetic being whatever energy you are feeling
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and you are exuding is what is being attracted into your life
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and it was funny because when i really slowed down and
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when i really took time to be like you know what
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i am sick i need to take time to de-stress
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because stress will actually cause my body to have physical symptoms not like i'm being a bambi ass bitch
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and you know i can't handle stress i can handle stress
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my body cannot my body freaks out under stress my body is hypersensitive to stress
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and my body will give me multiple physical symptoms like i'll wake up
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and my shoulder will be dislocated if i had a stressful day
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that kind of shit i will wake up
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and like i will not be able to walk because I'm
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so dizzy and feel like I'm about to pass out kind of symptoms
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that happen when I'm stressed and so I de-stressed
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and I didn't let my body go through that
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and like I said I did everything that I did
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and it was so funny
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because I received the biggest opportunity I have ever received in my life ever amazing opportunity
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that I am eternally grateful for
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and it only happened when I took a moment to actually be vulnerable about what it is
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that I not only want but what I need
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because that's the distinction that I learned is that authenticity
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and vulnerability happens so much with yourself as much as it happens with other people
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because a lot of us are walking around
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and we are lying to ourselves a lot of us are
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walking around half asleep not conscious of what we're actually going through living life in autopilot hyper stressed out of our mind, not taking care of ourselves,
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falling prey to hustle culture, and we are stressed as fuck and we don't even realize it because you have to be your own therapist.
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You have to be your own advocate.
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You have to be your own best friend.
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You have to be your own doctor in some regards.
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You have to know in the strangest way possible how to do surgery on your own soul.
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You have to learn how to go inside of yourself, dig out what it is that you are actually needing,
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whether that be self-care, whether that be to quit your job and find a job that's better suited for you, whether that be to cut off your toxic ex or cut off your toxic friends,
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whether that means you need to be honest about how healthy your diet is and your exercise routine,
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whether that means you need to take time to slow the fuck down no matter what, whether that means you need to speed the fuck up and you need to work harder.
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Whatever that is to you, there's a level of honesty that you have to have with yourself.
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There's a level of vulnerability you have to have with yourself to understand who you are so that moving into the future,
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you're not just walking around chasing other people's dreams.
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You're chasing what you actually need and what you actually want.
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And that's what I feel like this year was for me,
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was I chased a dream of wanting to be an ultramarathon runner and wanting to be a psychiatrist.
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The issue is, is that even though I want that, that is not what I need.
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And the reason that I want that is rooted in self-destruction.
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It's rooted in wanting to change myself.
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But when I actually took a moment to say, okay, Who would I be without the want to be loved?
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Who would I be without the want to be great?
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Who would I need?
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Who would I be if I didn't feel like I had to prove myself all the time?
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That's when I sat down and painted some sunflowers and that's
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when I sat down and started writing the first chapter of my book
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and that's when I sat down
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and I started painting again for the first time this year
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and I took a moment to really check in with myself and say you can't fill your life from an empty cup.
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You can't keep draining yourself absolutely dry and expect beauty to just produce itself in your life.
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You have to be honest.
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You have to be vulnerable, not just with other people.
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Because here's something strange.
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It's easier for me to be vulnerable with other people than it is to be with myself.
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It's easier for me to tell someone else the worst moments of my life.
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And it's easier for me to even say what I'm saying right now in front of an audience
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than it is to actually sit down with myself and journal
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and be honest about what I need versus just put myself through a routine and force myself to do everything.
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I'm very, very hesitant at actually doing what is best for me.
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And that is no longer.
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That is no longer.
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I learned that the best thing to do is not to hustle yourself till you can't walk anymore from exhaustion and pain.
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But the best thing to do is fill up your own cup
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so that you can chase what is actually good for you.
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So you can actually get out there and do what your soul's purpose is.
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So you can chase that little, that dream in the back of your head or that thing that makes your chest fly.
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Or that thing that makes your heart fly.
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I don't know.
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That's just what I've been thinking about all day today, is that.
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And that's what I want to leave you with today.
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I want to leave you with hope.
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I want to leave you with calmness i want to leave
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you with stillness i want to leave you with vulnerability
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and authenticity i want to lead you with i want to
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leave you with be yourself what anyone else thinks fill up
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your own cup before you go out there in the world
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because the world freaking stinks sometimes and work hard
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but don't destroy yourself i love you all a lot thank you for being with me this year
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and for listening to all of my rants and my vents and my grain of salt advice you've been
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one of the best editions of my entire life and i'm
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so happy that you're here and i'm excited to go into the new year with you
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and i hope you're having a happy holidays
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and merry christmas wherever we are and i love you guys so much have a good day
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Connecting with the Speaker: A Heartfelt Year-End Reflection
In the video, the speaker shares a warm, personal update as they wrap up the year, blending holiday wishes with honest reflections on growth, vulnerability, and community. Their conversational tone—filled with casual phrases and emotional honesty—makes it a perfect resource for learning real-life English. Whether you’re new to the language or refining your skills, this dialogue offers a chance to practice understanding natural speech, including colloquial expressions and heartfelt communication.
5 Everyday Phrases to Add to Your Vocabulary
- "Take care of one another": A kind way to emphasize looking out for friends or family. Example: "At our weekly dinners, we always make sure to take care of one another."
- "Simmer down": A casual phrase meaning "calm down." Example: "My dog gets excited when guests arrive, so I tell him to simmer down."
- "Headspace was at": Describes your mental or emotional state. Example: "After the busy week, my headspace was at a place of exhaustion."
- "Authentically yourself": Being true to who you are. Example: "She always encourages me to be authentically myself, even in new situations."
- "Walk you through": To explain something step by step. Example: "Let me walk you through how to use the shadowing app for practice."
Master the Dialogue with the Shadowing Technique
Practicing with this video? Try the shadowing technique—a proven way to boost pronunciation and fluency. Here’s how: Step 1: Watch the video once to grasp the main message. Step 2: Play short clips (5-10 seconds) and repeat them immediately, mimicking the speaker’s tone and rhythm. Focus on phrases like "I see you and I validate everything you’re going through" to practice emotional delivery. Step 3: Use a shadowing app to record yourself and compare it to the original—this helps refine your intonation. Step 4: Gradually increase clip length as you get comfortable. Remember, the goal isn’t perfection—it’s to sound natural, just like the speaker. Learning English with YouTube videos like this one makes practice fun and relatable, and shadow speech helps you internalize real-world language. You’ve got this!
Grammar in this video
The structures the speaker uses most, with the exact words from the video:
| Structure | In the video |
|---|---|
| Present perfect continuous have/has been + -ing — an action that started earlier and is still going on | I've been trying · I've been treating · I've been thinking |
| Passive voice be + past participle — the focus is on what happens, not who does it | was always told · be seen · be heard |
| Present perfect have/has + past participle — a past action that still matters now | I've never seen · has given · have ever received |
What is the Shadowing Technique?
Shadowing is a science-backed language learning technique originally developed for professional interpreter training and popularized by polyglot Dr. Alexander Arguelles. The method is simple but powerful: you listen to native English audio and immediately repeat it out loud — like a shadow following the speaker with just a 1–2 second delay. Unlike passive listening or grammar drills, shadowing forces your brain and mouth muscles to simultaneously process and reproduce real speech patterns. Research shows it significantly improves pronunciation accuracy, intonation, rhythm, connected speech, listening comprehension, and speaking fluency — making it one of the most effective methods for IELTS Speaking preparation and real-world English communication.