[ti:Take Time to 'Stop and Smell the Roses']
[by:www.21voa.com]
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[00:08.28]And now, Words and Their Stories, from VOA Learning English.
[00:18.28]Are you feeling overworked?
[00:20.68]Are you so concerned with moving up in your career that you feel stressed and unhappy?
[00:28.72]If so, maybe it is time for you to stop and smell the roses.
[00:36.00]People who need to stop and smell the roses should stop working so hard.
[00:41.64]They need to slow down and take time to appreciate the many things that life has to offer.
[00:51.44]Often this means enjoying the wonders of nature – looking at stars in the night sky,
[00:58.68]feeling the wind blowing your hair, smelling flowers growing near a busy street.
[01:06.44]But the flowers do not have to be roses.
[01:10.28]While this expression relates to roses, it can be anything rather small or even commonplace.
[01:19.48]These things may seem small but they can give us great joy.
[01:24.52]The thing that you stop to watch could be an old married couple holding hands,
[01:30.56]a child jumping in a puddle or a musician performing by your bus stop.
[01:38.52]These are the things -- simple but beautiful things
[01:42.52]-- that we often walk by in a hurry to get to our next appointment.
[01:48.36]Very ambitious, highly driven people often need to stop and smell the roses.
[01:54.96]We sometimes call this kind of person Type A.
[02:00.32]Such people often do not know when to sit back and stop working.
[02:06.92]So, they may have a hard time slowing down and doing something as simple as smelling flowers.
[02:15.36]But you know, maybe for a Type A person, the best thing in the world might be working.
[02:23.80]In that case, stopping to smell the roses may give them no joy at all.
[02:30.04]Maybe smelling flowers gives them an allergic reaction.
[02:35.36]Maybe the person has many mouths to feed at home
[02:39.36]and does not have time to stop and smell the roses.
[02:43.92]People and their situations are complex.
[02:47.92]Now, we turn to about another "rose" expression: Every rose has its thorns.
[02:56.04]Roses come in many colors and many are beautiful.
[03:01.20]Also, some of the flowers give off a wonderful smell.
[03:05.44]No one can argue with that.
[03:08.64]But most roses have something that is not very nice – thorns.
[03:15.84]Thorns stick out from the stem of the plant.
[03:19.08]They can cut into the skin and make you bleed.
[03:23.08]They hurt!
[03:25.16]Every rose has its thorns means that everything usually has a bad side – even beautiful things.
[03:35.24]This expression can also mean that a thorn does not take away from a rose's beauty.
[03:42.52]Are the thorns unpleasant when they cut us?
[03:47.52]Well, yes. But is the rose still beautiful and worthwhile to have?
[03:51.96]Again ... yes!
[03:54.32]We need to respect the beauty of roses and the thing that can hurt us – the thorn.
[04:02.04]Thorns help protect the plant from plant-eating animals.
[04:05.76]So, they serve a purpose.
[04:08.72]Maybe flowers are as complex as we are.
[04:13.72]Which expression best describes your feelings right now:
[04:17.40]to stop and smell the roses or every rose has its thorns?
[04:24.32]And that brings us to the end of this Words and Their Stories.
[04:28.48]Join us again next week as we explore more expressions in American English.
[04:34.76]Until next time ...
[04:36.52]I'm Anna Matteo!
[04:37.96]The song at the end is the rock band Poison singing "Every Rose Has Its Thorns."
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