Did you ever meet people who can remain calm throughout a crisis? I did and I am amazed. Not just medical or public safety, but people in ordinary jobs. It’s crazy how simple things can rock us.
Were you ever given bad news about your health or finances? It sucks and it makes you irrational for a while.
Did you ever have a major problem at work? It’s only work, right? No, it’s your reputation and possibly your future that’s on the line. At least it feels like the world could end sometimes.
We often care about things way too much to remain calm.
Think if a doctor told you your kid was sick or something happened to them, like they were in an accident. It would be impossible to remain calm and think rationally, at first it would be anyway. That is because emotions overwhelm us. We go nuts, literally, until we can get control again.
Seneca once said in “Hercules Oetaeus” To bear trials with a calm mind robs misfortune of its strength and burden.” If we could remain calm, maybe we just aren’t human, unless we’ve been through something like this before. When you meet people who deal with crises regularly, they become less emotional and more rational. Talk to a soldier or a police officer. They can remain calm when things are going crazy, especially if they’ve been around for a while. That is something that can be learned.
In our lives, we don’t want the experience of seeing loved ones suffer or die. But it happens and we get worried, sad, or angry even though there’s nothing we can do about it. The older i get the more you go through these trials and tribulations. You lose your parents, a few friends, relatives, and so on.
I understand it’s part of life, but we can be rational and still make time to release our emotions. Greiving really helps, once we face it. Unfortunately, sometimes emotions have to wait until the decision making is done.