Do You Panic?

Do you have a cool head in a crisis or do you panic. Can you handle a crisis or do you stand around not knowing what to do? Or even worse, do you break down?

A crisis is like any other event in your life. The more you are exposed to it, the better you can cope with it. If the same crisis occurs regularly, it becomes routine. It is the same as an inexperienced soldier going to war. He will forget his training, fear for his life and panic. The duration and the degree of panic will depend on the person.

That is why new recruits are sent to war with old hands to stabilize them. After a while he gets used to the carnage and he copes better. It is then said that he has seen the elephant. He is still scared but he can handle it.

There is no disgrace in being scared. It is a primal instinct to secure self-preservation. Any fear can be overcome if you are exposed to it often enough. The secret is to control the fear so you can effectively counter the threat.

My father often exposed us to a crisis deliberately. One such an instance I will never forget. We were to go camping when my sister was still a baby. I was about ten at the time. My father, my brothers and I were to leave three days before my mother would follow with my grandfather and family. We never camped in a park; always in the wild.

When we arrived there, we discovered that our food and water supplies that I so carefully helped to pack, were no longer in the car; only empty water containers. I suggested that we go back to fetch it but my father said that there was not enough fuel in the car and he forgot his wallet at home.

After some deliberation, he suggested that fresh water was the primary need as we could feed us from the sea and we all set off on the 4 km journey along the beach to get fresh water. Funny enough. there was a water container for each to bring back some water; all according to our abilities. At the fishing village my father ‘discovered’ enough change in his pocket to buy two loaves of bread.

Arriving back, my father caught some fish and took out a few crayfish while I had to harvest some black mussels. Then I ‘discovered’ some ground coffee and sugar under the car seat when he sent me to look for his ‘mislaid’ car keys and he produced a tin can and two plastic cups from the boot of the car. We ate like kings until the rest of the family arrived. Bread without butter never tasted better.

My father had a knack to turn a dead normal situation into a crisis. Granted, he did put some stress on us but in the process, he taught us how to cope in an ‘emergency’ and that there is a solution to every problem, no matter how monstrous it appears.


And have a great day out there. Wednesday is small Saturday!