I had my first live session with Rosetta Stone this evening. I was super nervous about it. I'm not sure why I was getting so worked up and nervous because I'm normally not a shy person, but I definitely was. I logged in a few minutes early to study a few review lessons, and then I logged into my live session 10 minutes early which made my nerves even worse.
It wasn't as bad as I thought it was going to be though. I got to participate in the live session with two other learners. One of their names was Mandie and the other person was named Jacob. Jacob showed up about ten minutes late. It was pretty fun though. When you forgot things, the instructor, whose name was Sivy, was really nice about things. She would help you out and do funny gestures or point to things on herself. She would even type unknown words on the screen. She would take turns asking us questions in Spanish, and then we'd answer. If we used incorrect grammar, she would just simply say the sentence the right away after without making a big deal about things. I was really impressed with the session. We also got to play a few games with each other and had to ask questions to each other throughout the game. One of the games was a bar graph, and we had to ask one another if we had certain pets. Jacob ended up saying he had every single pet on the entire bar graph, so I said in English, "Do you own a zoo or something?" Everyone started laughing, including the instructor. So true though, the boy said he owned a white horse, two fish, a big dog, a little dog, and some cats. He also said he had SIX beds in his house. What in the world?!
We also had a play a guess which picture I've selected game. We had to ask one another clues or if certain pictures were the ones chosen. Jacob had selected a picture that took forever for us to guess. I think he kept changing it to make his turn longer. He was too funny.
I'm excited to see how the other lesson sessions go! I'm sure they will be just as fun. Perhaps I will run into Mr. Jacob Owns Animals again one day!
In other news, I'm going to start utilizing my recently acquired Cast Away philosophy. My self esteem was extremely low today. I was changing for the gym (that I wasn't really in the mood to go to), and everything I put on made me feel like a gigantic whale. I was getting very upset. I almost decided not to go to the gym because I was ashamed of the way I looked (which is the whole purpose, eh?), but I ended up going and working out in the dark cardio theatre room by myself. I only did 33 minutes, but that's better than nothing I think.
Tomorrow begins the introduction of the Cast Away Philosophy into my life/the way I think about things. Who would have thought that multiple viewings of this movie would prompt such life changes? I was texting my best friend earlier, describing how I'm a huge whale and I need to diet. He said we need to diet together (even though he's already a healthy weight), and that tomorrow he's going to call me and we'll discuss diet plans. I started telling him about all the messages I've taken from the movie Cast Away. I said the following four points to him:
Point One: Changing your life for the things that matter and towards the direction that will obtain the goals you want for yourself.
Point Two: Let go of things in the past as simply the past and move forward. Forgive, don't forget.
Point Three: The horizon will bring "sails" to us on a daily basis and without looking for these sails (or holding onto the past realities), we end up missing or pushing away what could make us happy in life.
Point Four: We all must eventually reach a crossroads in our lives, and we must select a path whether we want to or not. We shouldn't go back down old paths because we aren't the same people as we used to be, so we needn't travel down the same road.
I think both Bettina Peterson and Chuck Noland in the movie Cast Away had to release all of these above points before reaching their resolutions in the movie. It's definitely so empowering.
About seven or eight years ago, I was watching a Larry King Live interview. I can't remember who the interview was with, but it was with a very popular motivational speaker. The motivational speaker said something that has since stuck with me (but not acted upon) for the years following this interview. He said something along the lines of "in order to attract a mate that you want to end up with, you first have to possess the qualities that you are searching for. Are you the type of the person that such a mate would reciprocate attraction towards?"
The type of person I want to end up with for the rest of my life would definitely not reciprocate attraction towards me with how I am now. Hell, I'm not even happy with myself. There are definite changes brewing in my life, folks. Definite changes.
Obvious change number one is my physical well being. I've always struggled with weight. Hopped on diet band wagons, starved myself, threw up foods, diet pills, etc. I've gone up and down with my weight ever since I was a child. The word "maintain" has been absent from my entire life. The word with the highest frequency of usage has been "gain". Truth. Last summer, I ended up losing about 50 lbs, but I ended up gaining it all back throughout the course of the year. I've got quite a ways to go at this point to be a healthy, MAINTAINABLE weight for the rest of my life, but we all must START AGAIN somewhere. Do we not?
My start point begins tomorrow. I purchased a BodyBugg (calorie management system/tracker as seen on shows such as the Biggest Loser) about 10 weeks ago. I used it for about 3 weeks, stopped going to the gym, and ended up putting it in the drawer. I went and dug the sucker out of my drawer tonight, and created a new program for myself on the BodyBugg website. Nothing too extreme in terms of the speed of weight loss, but a new program nonetheless. Tomorrow begins logging of my food again. Portion control. Not eating every meal from the inside of microwave. Throwing away the Pop Tarts. Simple things really.
I'm eager to make these changes, but the physical component is only one part of my C.A. philosophy as mentioned in the above four points. I've got lots of changes in store for myself.
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