期待と現実Expectations and Reality

どうも、ドウモ、DOUMO。
Hey, yall.

なかなか投稿の継続出来ん男マニーじゃ(笑)
It's your main man Manny, the guy who can't seem to stay consistent with his posts. Haha.

わしは英会話の教師じゃ。
I'm a teacher at an English conversation school.

働いとる学校である日女子高生の生徒はわしの授業に当たった(毎回生徒が違う先生の授業を受ける制度)。あの子は面白いシャツを着てた
One day, at my school, a high school girl showed up and was assigned to my class (our school's system is set up so that students get a different teacher every time.) She wore an interesting shirt.

'おう、君のシャツはええな'ってわしは言った。
"Ohh, you've got a nice shirt,'' I told her.

彼女は'そうですか?'って
"Oh, really?'' she replied.

'ええ。英語が書いとるね。意味が分かる?
"Yeah. There's English written on it. Know what it means?''

'わかりません'って
"I don't.''

彼女のシャツに英語の文字が書いてた。
Here's what was written on her shirt:

'Expectations vs reality'

Expectationsって期待。realityって現。
文字の上に面白い絵が描かれてた。Expectationsの上美しい半分の虎が描いてたけど、現実の上にちっちゃい猫ちゃんの半分が描いてた。ハーフタイガーとハーフキャット。あまりカッコエエライガーと言えんな?
A curious picture hovered above the words. Above 'expectations,' a beautiful, proud tiger made its gait. However, you could only see its rear half. Above 'reality,' a mere silhouette of a common house cat sauntered, as cats often do, probably to nowhere particular. So, half-tiger and half-cat. Not quite a liger, eh?

イメージがちゃんととらえた? (最低は投稿写真はご参考まで)。期待は力持ちの虎じゃったけど、現実は期待から遠く離れて実はただの猫のトムじゃった。
Could you catch a decent image of the shirt in your head? (In the worst case, reference the post photo)。Where we expected a majestic tiger, reality left us with 'ol Tom the cat, one animal short of his better half, Jerry.

(笑)
Hah.

これをあの子に伝えた。彼女は爆笑した
I told this to the girl and she got a kick out of it.

でも、人生はまじでそのシャツ通りじゃ思う。人間はこれ、あれ、それに多く期待するけど、実はパッとしないね。怖いこと、悩み事も一緒! ものすごい大問題じゃ思うけど、結局何も無かった。
But isn't life just like that shirt? We humans expect so much from this and that, but actually, we are left unimpressed in the end. Our fears and worries are no different! We may think we face a huge problem, but it could turn out to be nothing.

この世はいつも変わっとるけぇ、そんな期待するとがっかりしちゃうね。期待するのは人間らしいと思うけど、期待すぎないように気をつけよう!
Because we live in a world of flux, expecting much leaves us disappointed much. Expectations are innate to us, but let's be careful not to expect too much.

でも、変わらないことがある。そりゃ神様の言葉、約束、愛! 実は神様がやってくれることはわしらの期待も想像も以上超える!
But, there is something that never changes. And that is, the words of God. His promises. His love! Actually, the things God does for us exceed our expectations and imagination.

わたしたちの内に働く御力によって、わたしたちが求めたり、思ったりすることすべてを、はるかに超えてかなえることのおできになる方に、 教会により、また、キリスト・イエスによって、栄光が世々限りなくありますように、アーメン。
エフェソの信徒への手紙 3:20-21 新共同訳
Now to him who is able to do immeasurably more than all we ask or imagine, according to his power that is at work within us,  to him be glory in the church and in Christ Jesus throughout all generations, for ever and ever! Amen.
Ephesians 3:20

夢がある? 願いがる? わしの願いは働いてなかった自粛の間経済的に安定することじゃった。会社は2ヶ月間臨時休業してた。社長は給料の6割を約束したけぇ、お金が無いというわけではなかった。でも、アメリカに毎月送金せんといけんけぇ、生活費大丈夫かなと思った。給料の差を解決するため、オンライン個人レッスンをはじめた。どうなるか分からんかったけど、そんがなかったけぇ、一応やろうと思った。
Do you have a dream in your heart? A desire? My desire was to be financially stable during the lockdown from the pandemic. My company temporarily closed its doors for 2 months. Though our boss promised us 60 percent of our usual pay, that left 40 percent less money I could use to pay back my debtors in the US. I send money back home each month. To make up for loss funds, I decided to teach English online. I didn't expect much to happen and had never even tried it before. But, as I had nothing to lose, I figured I'd try it. Why not?

英語勉強したい人を知っとったけど、あの人たちもお金がキツかってわしの授業を受けられなかった。でも、hello talkというアプリでとある優しいおじさんはわしのオモロい投稿を見て友達になった。結局彼はわしの生徒もなった! 彼は4つずつのクラス代を払ってくれたけぇ、すぐに1万円とか2万円とか口座に入った! もう1人の女性も授業を受けてくれた。
Though I knew people who wanted to study English, they were also tight financially and couldn't afford clases. But, one day, on a language exchange app called Hello Talk, a nice older gentleman like my interesting posts and became my friend. He later became my student. He wanted to pay for four classes at once, so I ended up getting around 100 to 200 US dollars regularly into my account! One more student, a woman, also joined my class.

そして! そして!
And....AND!

神様が描いた縁でで有名人もわしの授業を受けてくれた! まじでうれしかった! その有名人誰か教えんけど、東京に住んどるモデルさんじゃ。その人は友達にわしの授業を伝えて、もう1人の生徒が入った。色んな人はどんどん入ってくれた!
Through God's hands working designing my fate, a celebrity also joined my class. I was overjoyed! I can't divulge who she is, but she's a famous model in Tokyo. She also recommended my class to my friend, and she joined, as well. I was blessed with many students!

その経験でフリーランスが出来る気づいて、もっと自由に働けるように今準備しとる。お金が全く問題なかった。逆に、神様からめっちゃ恵まれて、お金が溢れた!
Through that experience, I realized I could be a freelancer and I'm now working towards a working style that allows more freedom. Money was no problem. Quite the opposite, I was very blessed by God and money simply overflowed.

わしの期待が低すぎた。神様はわしらに豊かさと祝福を約束した。神様は約束を守ってわしの想像よりすごいことをしてくれた。
So, my expectations were too low. God promises us wealth and blessings. God keeps His promises and does great things for us that exceed our imagination.

ところで、先週もう1人の生徒も入ってくれた。この調子はやばくねぇ?
By the way, last week, I got another student. Isn't that crazy?

もし、あなたが願いがあれば、
If you've got a desire,

6 何事も心配しないで、どんな時でも神に祈りなさい。そして、祈りに答えてくださる神に感謝しましょう。 7 そうすれば、人間の理解をはるかに超えた、すばらしい神の平安を経験します。キリスト・イエスにあって、その平安はあなたがたの心と思いを静め、安らかにしてくれるのです。
ピリピ人への手紙 4:6-7
Be anxious for nothing, but in everything by prayer and supplication, with thanksgiving, let your requests be made known to God; and the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and minds through Christ Jesus.
Philippians 4:6-7 NKJV

神様はいつもすぐに願いを叶えさせないかもけど、希望を持ってて進行を守り続けると、きっと想像より豊かさを得る!
God may not always grant your desires immediately, but stay hopeful and stay faithful, and you'll be blessed with a richness and joy beyond what you can fathom.

今日も読んでくれてありがとう!
みんな、愛しとるよ!
Thanks for reading!
I love you!