No one reading this has had a life without unexpected challenges, accidents and sorrows! Everyone reading this has gone through the stress of carin
g for a sick child or an aging parent or recovering from an accident or illness. Everyone has lost a loved one who is dearly missed. Yet isn't there always some reason to keep going?
My oldest son, Steven was diagnosed with acute leukemia in 1970 when he was four and died in the hospital in my arms four years later and during his illness I was divorced! What kept me going was the need to take care of his younger brother aged six, who is now an adult and to do this I had to get up every morning to get him off to school and go to work where I provided speech therapy to little children, many of whom were the age of the son I had just lost. I invite you to think of all the challenges and obstacles that you have already overcome, some of which are hard for me to imagine. My clients have settled in the United States, most with their families, and have had to adjust to a foreign culture, to speaking English at work every day and to listening to and understanding the flow of English, and not just reading textbooks in English. To "keep going" for you might mean to improve your confidence in the quality of your spoken English, to reduce an accent that prevents your American colleagues and friends from easily understanding what you are trying to tell them. Give yourself credit for all the determination and the persistence you have already demonstrated. We encourage you to keep going and decide to take the next step!
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