Do Not Panic!!!

Speaking from several experiences as a fighter pilot, I feel even on the ground, in normal life, when you get into a situation that demands calmness and you panic!

Tell yourself…  “Do Not Panic.”

When in distress this is the very first thought that should emerge from your brain.
To you.

So, go ahead…and train the brain.
Get it ingrained.
As it helps.
A lot.

Half the battle is won once you assertively tell yourself. “Do Not Panic.”
Whatever be the situation.
Calmness gets restored.

The brain and its thinking machinery tend to get jumbled up when they find themselves in unusual circumstances.
When they get presented with situations that are not arranged in a logical way they are used to.
All logical thinking comes to a grinding halt.
And… you tend to panic!

Don’t.

You need to sustain logical thinking coupled to quick reactions to over come a disaster/emergency.

Thoughts precede action don’t they?
Hence, this command from you to your brain…makes it hold ground.
Stops it from going haywire.
Calmness gets restored by the by.
Makes the brain remain functional under adverse situations too.

When you say these magical words “Do Not Panic”
You get to regain control, and are back in the driver’s seat…it may not be the usual… calm drive, but a jerky murky one.
All said and done you get to getting the hold back on the situation on hand.

A deep breath, if not a few of them, also help, in remaining calm and cool.
Deep breathing under adverse circumstances is indeed a rejuvenating effort.

Once you are in control and not panicking, get down to conscious, regular deep breathing.
All your senses will thus get to get a good supply of oxygen and will work better.

As Combat Pilots, we are trained and mentored, to work through emergencies.
Any emergency that we would have in the air, has/had the potential of getting disastrous results, if, as a pilot one panics/panicked.

Hence, when we not only get to tape up the emergencies we also make it a habit to utter these words ” Do Not Panic” right at the very beginning of any emergency related procedure.

Since having stopped fighter flying decades ago, I have forgotten almost all the emergency procedures, but this beginning line “Do Not Panic” has been deeply embedded in my consciousness.

With my feet firmly placed on “terra firma” ever since I hung up my gloves…”Do Not Panic” …has helped me on several occasions when I have been in tight corners.
So also has deep breathing, as a sequential effort, after uttering “Do Not Panic”

Keeping the eyes closed for a few seconds…if the situation permits…once you are back in command along with deep breathing, helps you normalize the situation quickly.

Let’s take a very small but a common example, when matters could, did and do get worse, if one panics… i.e. when you have a power outage, all of a sudden,

We are ensconced in darkness…do we panic?

No we don’t…not any longer.

We know that either the UPS will take over or the captive power will.
If the two don’t…we will have to light a candle/lamp.
Don’t we get up and light a lamp/candle?
If neither happens?
Yes we do…without panicking.

The frequency of this action being staged, in day to day life, used to be more in the yester years when power outages were so common.
UPS and captive power generators were luxuries, then.
No more.
But, the sequence of events and actions that need to take place to dispel darkness, are by now so well taped up…to this generation too that
They don’t panic any more like their ancestors did.
They act and react calmly to this situation as and when it happens.
Had they panicked …instead…they would/will create a chaotic situation as their ancestors did.

Now…after a lapsed period of time, our body, systems, react calmly to this situation…as the sequence of what to do next, have/has to happen and will happen, are so well known, to the human mind as a mindset.

Similarly ,it is possible to train the mind to get over exigencies when they happen!
Provided that procedure is known to you.
And you have been over that procedure again and again and acted accordingly in a simulated environment.
Like Fighter Pilots all over the world do.

Since, we do not have all the procedures well written for all the emergencies that do happen in day-to-day life…at least the first line, of those, should have been written, and learnt as a procedure, should be by hearted by one and all.

It should get taped up in memories too.

That signature line is called:

“Do not Panic”

You won.t if you tape it up…and God willing, come out of the situation calmly too.

As well begun is half done.

–

Arun alias Axee  is an ex-combat pilot turned executive life coach. He is actively involved with Brian Tracy in a novel learning initiative, iLearningGlobal.biz/axee. Contact him at emarshalarun@gmail.com