Naturally optimistic?

Ever find it hard to show that side of you when you're speaking English?

This is the video for you!

Welcome back to English with Catherine.

I'm so happy to have you here, and I can't wait to show you what I've got in store for you today. Now, first of all, make yourself a lovely cup of tea, take a sip of it, and breathe.

Every day and every cup of tea is a gift.

Let's get started! Positivity.

When I say that word, I'm talking about the way that you observe the world.

Sure, there are a lot of bad things in the world, a lot of negative things, but it's still your decision and your choice to decide how you observe it and what perspective you have on it all. I'm also talking about the voice in your head, the voice that you talk to yourself in.

Is that positive?

Do you talk to yourself with love and kindness?

Well, you should!

Here are some language tips to make your outward voice and your inner voice much happier, lighter, and more positive. Reassuring others.

When it comes to positivity and being described as a positive person, very often it's all about how you are with others, how you make your fellow human beings feel.

Sometimes it's necessary to reassure others to help them find the positive when they're really struggling. Look on the bright side.

This is a lovely expression that just encourages the person to look on the positive side, to see the situation in a positive light.

Maybe they hadn't thought about doing that before.

Maybe it hadn't even occurred to them that there could be a positive.

There's a great song from a very British film, Monty Python.

I don't know if you've ever seen any Monty Python films.

Very old British films.

The song is called "Always Look on the Bright Side of Life" and it's this really happy song and every time I say that, I think of that song.

Anyway, how do we use it in a sentence?

He lost the race, but on the bright side, he didn't get hurt.

So here we have a negative situation, him losing the race, but we're trying to find the positive and, you know, he didn't get hurt, so there's the positive. Number two.

Oh, just sleep on it and make a decision in the morning.

My mum always used to say that no big decisions should be made at night.

You should always sleep on it.

So if you're comforting someone in the evening over a glass of wine or you've met up with them and they've told you this problem and they need to make a decision, you can say sleep on it.

Don't worry about it.

Make the decision in the morning when you have a clear perspective, when you have a clear mind.

Sometimes we say tomorrow is a new day.

Don't worry about today because there's always tomorrow.

So that one really is about romanticizing making difficult decisions.

Again, it's always down to you and the way that you choose to observe or deal with a situation. Number three.

Look at it this way.

Look at it this way.

This is a way to introduce another perspective to someone.

You know when someone is completely obsessed and transfixed on something and they can't see the wood for the trees, we say in English.

That's an idiom.

That means they can't see the situation clearly.

They can only see one way.

You can say this to give them another perspective on the situation, to help open their mind a little bit and to help them think more positively.

Very often negativity and negative perspectives come from a place of fear and sometimes all we need is for someone else to reassure us.

The other day my friend messaged me and she said, "Oh, I've got so much on my plate.

I'm so busy today.

I don't know what I'm going to do.

I don't know how to handle it." And I said, "Rosie, put it this way.

If you start now, you'll finish early.

If you start all of your work now, you can finish early, right?" So it was like, "Okay, positivity.

Let's focus on that.

We have a strategy." Number four, "You'll be all right.

I just know it." And the way you say this, you have to be really authentic.

You have to have meaning and really fill that other person with motivation.

Trust me, it really works. Number five, "Every cloud has a silver lining." Probably my favorite idiom in the whole world.

I feel like that's an idiom that I live my life by.

So every cloud has a silver lining means every negative situation has a positive.

Sometimes it's hard to find it, but if you really try, I promise you can.

Keep your chin up.

It'll get easier.

Again, we are encouraging the person.

We're trying to give them strength and positivity so they can do whatever they're doing.

Life is hard, guys, right?

Life is hard.

We don't know why we're here on this planet.

None of us know what we're doing or what we're supposed to be doing.

So we need each other.

We need each other to get us through this crazy thing we call life.

This beautiful thing we call life. "You're really getting your ducks in a row, aren't you?

You're really getting your ducks in a row, aren't you?

I'm so proud of you." So the idiom to get your ducks in a row means you're sorting everything out.

You're becoming successful with what you're trying to do.

Even though it's difficult, even though it feels laborious and long and tiring, you're getting where you need to be.

You're getting your ducks in a row.

A perfect line of ducks.

Wonderful! Finding the beauty around you.

This is part two of the video.

I'm so happy if you're still watching.

Isn't that just the most beautiful sunset you've ever seen in your life?

Or isn't that just the most beautiful tree you've ever seen?

We use this kind of sentence, this structure, to kind of just remark on the beauty of something.

You're just so amazed and impressed by it.

And its very existence is giving you so much joy and happiness.

In British culture, we do very often just remark on the beauty of our surroundings.

It's part of small talk.

Sometimes we do that when we're feeling a bit awkward and we want to say something.

But generally, it's just what we do.

There's a slight rhetorical question in there, if you can see that and hear that.

We say, "Isn't it just?" It's kind of like a tag question, but at the beginning.

It doesn't require an answer.

You just say this.

You don't need an answer to that. Number two. "I am just in awe." This again means that you are just so amazed, excited, impressed, completely consumed by how wonderful something is.

I always feel like there aren't enough words in the English vocabulary to actually express the feeling you get when you see a sunset that's so perfect.

Or if you see nature or the first flower in spring.

It's a feeling that's very hard to describe.

So the literal translation of to be in awe is a feeling of great respect, usually mixed with surprise.

So you're kind of almost shocked at how wonderful something is.

You can also be in awe of someone.

And that doesn't mean that you're envious of them or jealous or anything negative.

It's pure positivity.

For example, if one of your friends does something really impressive, they work really hard on a project and they achieve their goal.

You can say, "I'm in awe of you.

You're amazing.

Wow." And there's also a lovely term, which is awe-inspiring.

And if you use this to describe something, it really is a very powerful way to describe it.

For example, a beautiful piece of art, something truly impressive. Well, those are just some tips and tricks on how to be more positive, how to release your inner positive identity that you have in your mother tongue, but you might not have in English.

If you keep watching my videos, I'm going to help that inner you come out when you're speaking in English.

And hopefully, the two will become one and the same identity eventually.

We can do it. If you enjoyed my video, please click subscribe.

I would really appreciate that.

Thank you so much.

Wishing you a wonderful, happy weekend.

And I'll see you next Friday for another video.

Bye.