Take a deep breath

  An interesting event happened during this years Super Bowl (2016). Not the commercials or half time show, but a few seconds of the game. Tom Brady displayed a behavior in overtime. It was one of the last plays of the game. With the score tied, the entire team was full of energy and ran bouncing to the line of scrimmage. Except, Tom Brady, he turned from the huddle and took a leisurely walk to his position. He had to have been in a period of stress, excitement, ego and everything else that goes into that particular few seconds of a person's life. I've heard it refered to as "23 hours of mind numbing boredom, one hour of terror". The quarterback looked up at the crowd and he looked down the field, then took his position. They made the play and went on to win.

We are good thinkers and planners, look at things from a different perspective. 

   In an emergency situation, or a period of high stress, it is a good habit to get into, to slow the situation down. Slow it down in your mind and take stock of all around you. It appeared that's what Tom Brady did. I've done it, I was taught that in my flight deck training in the Navy. It's good advice for any emergency situation. Although, it's a hard behavior to conjure up when a person is stressed.
   It seem's to be a natural reaction during an earthquake. Typically the ground starts to shake and when it's finished I look at whoever (normally my wife) is nearby and I say did you feel that? Was that an earthquake? (Sometimes it's the washing machine, only she knows for sure). That's only in an event of low damage. Still, I think if a "big one" happens a "what happened" moment arrives. Not so much in a home fire, tornado, wild fire or flash flood. A one or two second pause, take a breath, see what's happening, determine a purpose of action and then execute that plan. That one or two seconds could be the most important period of your life. The Red Cross has something to say about it and has some planning advice click here to read it.
    President Bush exhibited the same behavior on 9/11. He was reading a book to grade schoolers. He recieved a message and finished reading the book. He then got up and went to deal with the horrendous crisis. It's a good tool to put in your box.

Not much time to think about this happening!

I'd like to hear your comments. Have you had a few seconds when time seemed to freeze? Thanks for reading.
jimandkate
emergencykitsplus.com