Live in the present moment. The best way you feel happier about your life is to stop dwelling on the past and stop worrying about the future. If you suffer from anxiety or depression, it is probably because you are doing one or both of these things constantly and 1.___________________________________. If you find yourself constantly dwelling on negative memories, try the following exercise:
First, acknowledge the memory and how it makes you feel. If it was a recent incident and you feel the need to cry or scream, then do it. Consider writing about the event in a journal or 2.__________________________________. Once you have properly grieved the memory, then admit to yourself that it is over, and nothing can be done to undo it. Instead of being upset that it happened, be thankful that it is over, and remember that things always could have been worse. The next time the thought returns to your head, acknowledge it, be thankful that it is over, and let it go.
While it is impossible 3.______________________________, many people tend to focus on negative or traumatic memories rather than on the positive ones. Take some time to remember all the good things that have happened to you in the past. If it helps, make a list.
Be positive. No matter what you have, where you are, or who you're with, your perception of your circumstances is more important than the circumstances themselves. To put this into perspective, consider this fact: at any given moment, there are other people in the world who have less money, less resources, and less loved ones than you do, and yet 4._____________________________. Similarly, there are people who are richer than you, in better shape, and with more resources, who feel less fulfilled than you do.
Get in the habit of noticing the positive aspects of whatever situation you find yourself in. If you find yourself complaining about what's going on around you, then counter each complaint you make with one or two positive observations.
Stop criticizing yourself and those around you. Again, everybody has both positive and negative qualities; 5.______________________________. If you constantly focus on the negative qualities in your spouse, for example, then those are what you will notice, and you will constantly feel frustrated and annoyed. Contrastingly, if you constantly remind yourself of the positive qualities in your spouse, then those are what you will notice, and 6.________________ ____________________.
Don't compare your own life with other peoples' lives. Part of what makes people feel unhappy with their own lives is the comparison they make with the lives of those around them. The tendency is to compare the low points of your own life with the positive points of other peoples' lives.
Let go of jealousy. Nobody's life is perfect, no matter how it may seem on the outside. If you find yourself being jealous of others for their money, their talents, or their relationships, remember that each and every one of these people has struggled with hardships and insecurities 7.______________________________.
TEXT 3 (C1)
Choose the best answer А, В, С or D.
Reclaiming My Life
It's 10.30 and I'm just settling down to my mid-morning coffee break. I open the paper and two articles leap out at me. The first – Overworked Britons feel ill and too tired for love – reports the findings of a survey which found that over half the working population are so tired by the time they get home that their sex lives are suffering. The other article – Unpaid overtime tops £23 bn mark – reports that research conducted by a trade union reveals that businesses increasingly rely on staff putting in extra hours without extra pay, and that the average person would have each earned £4,650 for their efforts if they had received a wage.
I love reading the newspaper, because it is always full of articles like these, which just confirm to me that I have made the right choice: I am a stay-at-home mum.
I was not the most obvious candidate for being a stay-at-home mum. My own mother always worked – she was a teacher – and when I became pregnant, my intention was always to continue my successful career in marketing after my first child, Naomi, was born. In fact, I did go back to work after my six months of maternity leave. I left Naomi at a childminder's at eight o'clock in the morning and collected her at six o'clock in the evening. This worked for a while, but as she grew and started to walk and talk, she got increasingly upset when I left her in the mornings. I had incredible pangs of guilt. I still enjoyed my job, but whereas before it had been everything to me, now it seemed somehow more trivial. What was more important – promoting toiletries or raising a happy child? However, the pressures of work hadn't changed – there were still sales targets to meet, new products to be pushed – and I was frequently home late. There were some days when my husband Alan picked Naomi up when I wouldn't see Naomi awake all day and, yes, I was too knackered to speak to my husband, let alone make love.
The crunch came one day when I was on my way home from work. The rush hour was just beginning and the underground train was particularly packed. I just about squeezed on and found myself pressed up against the sweaty armpit of a guy holding up Computer Weekly to his face to read. I got off at Victoria to catch my train out of the city, only to find the place was in chaos. The train station had been evacuated because of a security alert. Nobody knew when it would reopen. There were hundreds of people getting increasingly agitated.
I rang my childminder to warn her I'd be late. We had a rather terse conversation – it wasn't the first time, but as it turned out, it was the last. I told her I'd see if I could get Alan to pick up Naomi. I rang him, but as soon as he picked up the phone, I knew I shouldn't have. I could hear the stress and anxiety in his voice. He'd told me he had to work late – a tight deadline to meet. 'How the hell am I going to get it done with you phoning me all the time?' he snapped. When I pointed out that phoning him once is hardly 'all the time', he just slammed down the phone on me.
I understood his situation, but it didn't stop me from feeling angry and resentful, until I really thought about who or rather what was to blame – work. There and then I took out my laptop and typed my letter of resignation.
That was seven years ago now and I've hardly looked back. Of course, when people ask me 'what do you do?', there are some who look on me as some kind of lesser being when I say I'm a homemaker, but that's their problem, not mine. I see it as working with children and that can be as rewarding, fulfilling and challenging as any other job.
From a personal point of view, I think it's probably saved our marriage. Of course, the lack of money places a bit of a strain on things every once in a while, but sacrificing a new car or a second holiday for a better home life seems the sensible option. And of course, I no longer feel too ill or too tired, which is perhaps why I'm expecting my third child.
1. The author loves reading the newspaper, because
A. it entertains her.
B. it reassures her.
C. it comforts her.
D. captivates her.
2. After the birth of her first child
A. she was thinking of giving up her career.
B. she began working part-time.
C. she was determined to go on with her career.
D. she ran into financial difficulties.
3. Her attitude to her job changed, because
A. she started to feel guilty about neglecting her child.
B. her husband started to take her for granted.
C. she started to work long hours.
D. she was treated unfairly by her superiors.
4. Now she's been a homemaker for seven years
A. she feels angry and resentful.
B. she feels the strain on her marriage.
C. she feels quite content with her lot.
D. she feels a bit embarrassed.