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Calmness is a beautiful thing. At one point or another, I have experienced chaos (you have too). These times of chaos can be found in situations that are majorly depressing such as life issues, including sometimes at work where high dollar figures are involved or where the managers have a myriad of realistic and unrealistic expectations.
Now when there’s looming chaos, maybe the deadline is literally inches away and your part is still incomplete, or you’re on a busy interstate and car tires just lost their traction in the ice, or maybe it’s something you know you’ve worked so hard for and you see it slipping away, the natural inclination is to flow with the energy the chaos creates. I do that sometimes due to pressure, fear, possibility of loss, etc. In these pressure moments, there’s one constant, there’s no added advantage to being frantic or consumed by fear. If you give in to these negative feelings, you’ve just made yourself slave to your problem when it’s really critical that you be the master. At this height of chaos or trepidation, your thought process becomes muddled, your judgment impaired, you may start talking when you should actually just remain silent, you may overreact instead of just keeping still. If you are in an environment where people are watching on the sidelines to see you fail, your fear and discomfort becomes a pleasant odor to them. Without calmness, your ability to manage your situation only diminishes, your confidence is in a sorry state, and suddenly you feel very incompetent.
If you’re goal-oriented, action-oriented, a go-getter, or a risk taker, you’ll probably be in such situations on a daily basis. As it’s said, those who don’t cross streets, never have to worry about getting struck by cars, but those who do achieve their goal of getting to the other side. The more you’re faced with situations that test your ability to hold on to your wits, the more you are opportune to master this sense of calm I speak of.
When you’re calm, you own the situation. You approach the situation methodically and with reason. The emotional and psychological issues may be there, but they are curbed - under your control. In this state of mind you realize that there are some things you can fix, and there are others you can’t do anything about. You’re level-headed and tackle your situation knowing that you have a better chance at succeeding when you’re focused. You give it all you’ve got, and if it works out, it does. If it doesn’t, at least you tried. Like everyone craves success and live successful lives, even if you fail, you can learn to live with the regret and move on understanding that you would probably take the beating (repercussions) that comes with it. You may let one instance get to you for just little while, after which you just move on and get ready for the next problem, because you’re smart to know it’s around the corner somewhere.
When you continually have a sense of calm and strong character fortitudes before, during and after a storm, you are always better off mentally and psychologically. Storms come and go, but those who weather it live to tell their story, learn from it, use it to prepare for the next one, and hopefully are nice enough to help others along the way.
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