Destiny and the Control of One’s Own Fate.
Ok people. Here’s a little advice. If you’re taking antibiotic capsules for anything, don’t do what I did this morning. I’m no medical expert but I’m pretty sure my body was in a bit of distress about a couple of hours ago; for the fact that I was unable to breath without heavily concentrating.
What happened you ask? I made the mistake of trying to take a pill with coffee. One of the side effects to this medication is acid reflux, or “heartburn”. I’m pretty sure most of you know what this is. Anyway, this was my 2nd very large cup of coffee this morning so the level of acidity in my stomach was probably high…YA THINK?!?! This was so stupid of me and I should have known better, but I proceeded to take the pill with a mouthful of coffee and then “downed” the rest of the mug. About 10 seconds later all hell broke lose in there somewhere. Before I knew it, the capsule had dissolved and the dusty medication traveled back to the top of my throat where I gasped and inhaled it. This was the part where I realized I was in trouble. It felt as though my trachea had closed over or my lungs had collapsed. Much like I imagine an asthma attack would feel. I was unable to breath without forcefully sucking back and really concentrating on each breath.
As I’m writing this, I’m looking back over the words that I’ve typed and find myself wondering if it sounds too dramatic. Am I reading thinking too deeply about what happened to me this morning? Then I start to reflect and play back the scenario in my head. Did I really think that I could die during the 5 minutes that it took for me to regain control of my breathing? Well yes. I did. At one point I picked up my phone to call 911 because I didn’t know how long the reaction was going to last or if it was going to worsen. It was that entire feeling of all helplessness and not having that natural level of control that made me think that these could actually be my last breaths. 5 Minutes of that feeling of inevitable doom. In retrospect, I feel silly. In the moment in which it was happening, I felt absolutely justified in my reaction.
From past experiences of being suddenly hurt or injured, I know that when my body experiences this kind of distress, the time it takes to recover from the initial shock can seem like a lifetime. Your thoughts are already behind the 8-ball and you’re so surprised by what just happened that the longer it takes you to regain some form of mental composure and begin to think rationally, your chances of making the best choice to minimize the level of damage to be caused will decrease exponentially. This is, of course, depending on the level of the emergency. In short, the more you panic, the worse it’s probably going to be! I phrase it this way because nothing in life or existence is absolutely predictable. However, given the factors involved, certain outcomes are more probable than others. That’s just common sense. Or so it would seem.
My Final Thoughts (A little more deep than those of Jerry Springer)
It is impossible to train or prepare your mind to react perfectly to an inevitable fate because such a thing does not exist.
You may challenge this statement with the most common response, “Death is inevitable isn’t it?” To which I would respond, “When and how will you die?”
Instead, you can choose to train your mind so it is more accepting to relinquish control back to you during times of stress, shock and crisis. This should greatly increase your probability of being able to react more positively under pressure and make the most appropriate decisions given the incredibly tough circumstances you are faced with.
