The Panic Button

Growing up during the Cold War, I was ever mindful that at any time, our President could authorize someone to press a red button somewhere and effectively start Armageddon.  Not that it was a constant worry, but it was there, looming, in the back of my “panic brain”, that there were maybe only a few degrees of separation between the comfort that was my life and the end of the world as we know it.  

Times now are different, and an all out nuclear war does not seem to be so much of a threat.  Somehow, though, I have held on to the panic button in my mind.  As long as I know it is there, it seems, I can function normally no matter what.  If I never hit the panic button, so be it.  The thing is, it’s there for me if I need it.  Just in case I cannot take another minute –another second of whatever it is causing me so much “stress du jour”, I know it is there.

So what would happen if I did push my panic button?  I have no clue!!  It would not necessarily be a good thing, only different…. A scrambling of circumstances – yet somehow it protects me.  I feel safe knowing it is there.  

Think about your own ways of coping with stress.  If you had a panic button, what might it look like?  What would happen if you pushed it?  How close have you been to feeling the need to push your own panic button in your lifetime?  I know I have had my thumb on mine a time or two (or three or four…) yet I have never actually pushed it.  I allow my greater consciousness to take over, and I am reminded of the good stuff.  Then I am okay.

If your life gets to the point where all you see is gloom and doom, remember your panic button.  Allow your higher power to take control, and don’t push it.



Panic Attack: Understanding And Taking Control