194.6 Giving Up The Comfort Zone

After a long break, I went back to Paradise Valley Community College to start the second semester of ESL (English as a Second Language) there. I had 17 students this morning, the most I have ever had since I started doing this in 2006. They are from all over the world and vary in age from early twenties up to over sixty. They do inspire me.

Today I tried to inspire them to challenge themselves. This is a free class and there is no preparation required. We do an hour of conversation and an hour of reading, and I plan everything. So, this morning I shared with them my weight loss saga and how everyday I have had to challenge myself to stay with the program. And, I encouraged them to set some new behaviors in place to reinforce what they are learning, and to practice. I talked with them about speaking English in their homes, even for a short time each day. And to watch American TV so as to immerse themselves in English, even for a short time each day.

You know, there are cable TV stations that originate in countries all over the world that can be made available to anyone who wants to see them. It used to be that if you lived here you could only watch stations that were transmitting from the U.S. What can happen now is if you are from Iraq, for example, you can watch only Iraqi TV, live in a neighborhood that is predominantly Iraqi, and you can get along pretty well...unless you want a job, or you want to experience life as an American. Obviously, the folks that are attending my class want to expand their horizons, but they are having trouble giving up their comfort zone. Hello! That's exactly where I found myself when I embarked on this weight loss adventure as I have called it. No matter what the new is all about, what it may promise, it is hard to give up the old.