An open letter to all around.

Have you ever noticed that one person is confident and another withdrawn? Do you want to know why? Fear, fear of the unknown, the "what ifs" that plague us all. Being withdrawn and any of the myriad of social anxieties is due to the fear of situations and the resulting possibilities.

And how do we overcome our fears? Knowledge. Let me give you an example here to prove my point.

You are somewhere, anywhere, unless you are in a situation purely by accident you have had a long thought process about where you are and what you are doing. All the apprehensions about possibilities will play these "what if" scenarios in your mind, in my mind, in all of our minds. You can get comfortable in 2 ways, one, see the perceived potential so often that you become used to it, numb, or two, by overcoming it with that "lovely knowledge".
You are ready for whatever you are doing or going to do to this degree most of your life. But something unexpected comes into play, something profound. A heart attack, motor vehicle accident, trip, fall, smash or boom, illness, something pulls your attention from the mundane to say a stopped heart.
These occurrences will happen to you, we are both clumsy and daring by nature.
What now?
Well firstly panic, the essence of fear, brings with it the hormone adrenaline. Every creature on the planet evolved into having this "fight or flight" response innumerable eons ago and we all use it.
Right?
Your heart is pounding, muscles tingling and tightening, all goes into sharp focus, because come on who cares about the result of 2 + 2 being 4 when there is a freakin lion looking for lunch nearby?
The important thing to note here, is that the lack of clarity is the issue.
When we are scared strongly enough of something ensuing, either real or imagined, we cannot as they say "see the forest for the trees" and that is the most important trait of being human is it not? Our ability to think our way out of situations, to take the long view. Keeping this vision is what shines as confidence. Yes, sometimes this is feigned bullpoop, and not worth it's weight, but the confidence of knowing what to do in a potentially life threatening situation is that confidence to be looked up to. When we don't think we are allowing our lower brain to take over, presenting a state where we are not thinking, just doing.
So, something chaotic unfolds around us and we panic. I chased a guy once who was shot twice, through a field of blackberries trying to stop the bleeding, because his panic got him running, the flight part of the equation.
If you do something simple this situation can easily be overcome, and so reduce the panicky adrenaline caused stupidity that is all too often utilized in and around our lives.
Now there are a couple of steps so bare with me...First, open your web browser. Second, yes of course it includes this website, go to YouTube, type in "basic first aid hd", it's by Aceis Group Inc. Third, if available, get a loved one, or if not get comfortable and get ready for some good knowledge. Now, double click on the little window and learn. Yes, again knowledge is the key, here used to overcome your fears for if you don't understand something cold, investigate and learn. Remove the barriers.
The instructor for "basic first aid hd" is obviously a paramedic and the steps he teaches were drilled into him, that coupled with his calm demeanor of someone you would trust in an emergency brings about a not so charismatic teacher, but the instructions are clear and concise.
Pause at each step. For instance when the class turns to capillary refill, where you push down gently on the finger nail for a second + or - a half, and let go and count how long it takes for the color return to the nail. Do it and test it out. Somewhere in the range of 2 seconds is A ok, longer is a tool to see where this person, or how you are doing.
You want to go one better? Instead treat yourself, go to the Red Cross website, redcross.org, and sign up for a live class where you will have manikins to practice on, friendly and knowledgeable instructors, members of your community also interested in removing some of the "what ifs". You will likely be served coffee and sometimes a donut. Get up and meet likeminded people. The more you know about the people within and in the case of the ISS circling this big blue ball of fun, the more comfortable you will be, the more at ease and less likely to reach for the adrenaline.
In turn, the more often you will have the happy hormone, oxytocin. The "feed and breed" hormone, the love hormone. Adrenaline is caustic and all too often we are living with it's effects. With knowledge you can see beyond differences of opinion, skin or creed. And by taking a couple precious, but often wasted hours out of your day, you can gain knowledge that will keep you from freaking the hell out and running through a field of blackberry bushes.
Remember, in a "First World" country like the U.S., it takes an average of 10 minutes to get there once 911 is activated. You only have around 1 or 3 minutes of consciousness once your supply of oxygen ends, death quickly follows. In an adrenaline frenzy seconds seem like hours, be smart, do a little learning and take these situations off of your anxiety list.
Oxytocin is the real key and knowledge increases it's likelihood.

Be safe, be smart, good luck and have as happy a 2018 as you can,
Robert Peters