I was walking my greyhound one morning to meet up with a friend who has a greyhound, too. We have been working on their "hello" as it can be very exuberant at times. On this day, as we were slowly approaching each other, my friend's greyhound's excitement got the best of her and she did what we call "The Kangaroo" where she lunged up on her hind legs, her front legs up in the air. Somehow she got caught by the leash and went flying into the air with a horrible sounding "thud" on the concrete.
The greyhound just laid there, staring at us, and I swore she broke her back or at the very worst…was dying. We weren't far from my place so, as I heaved "Oh My God, Oh My God…I will go get the car... you stay here, Oh My God," and my greyhound and I went running as fast as we could to get my car (well, not as fast as she could as it would have been 45MPH…). I dropped her off, drove up the street to where the incident occurred, and found my friend and her greyhound standing on the sidewalk, the greyhound walking around with her tail wagging and didn't look as though anything had occurred.
We decided to take her to the emergency vet anyway, just to be on the safe side. The vet checked her out and found nothing amiss-no broken bones, vitals all good, and he let us go on our way. As the adrenaline slowed I realized just how much I lost my cool. "I'm sorry for how I reacted," I told my friend. She of course was very understanding and herself pretty shaken up. But I couldn't help but spend the day reflecting on how I reacted to this crisis situation.
How do you react in a crisis situation? Are you level headed and steady, or do you experience extremes of fight or flight? As I reflected on this for myself, I decided to do some research around ways to handle crisis situations. Here is what I came up with from a variety of sources:
1) Take a few calming, deep breaths and get oriented to the situation
2) Remain calm
3) Ensure the safety of everyone involved
4) Evaluate and assess the situation
5) Delegate who should do what to assist (Maybe someone nearby is certified in CPR, maybe someone has a cell phone to call emergency responders, etc)
6) Follow through until the crisis has been handled
7) Don't be afraid to question the plan and revise the plan as things occur
However, it is easy to write out these steps but sometimes difficult to do. We all have our own innate reactions and our own immediate responses to situations. I came across this article and realized most people don't act as calmly in a situation as they think they might…
Crisis! How Would You Respond?
In the article, this caught my attention: "Experts say the ability to live in the moment-and react based strictly on what is present-is among the most important factors in handling a crisis of any type."
Living in the present moment is a hard thing to do for many people, including myself. Our minds often steer us in the direction of worst case scenarios, anxiety about the future, or regrets around past decisions. "Present moment awareness" is something we all could work on in our daily lives so that, in times of crisis, we can approach the situation a bit calmer instead of making assumptions or thinking of the worst. To assist in obtaining "present moment awareness" the most important thing we can do is take time out for some deep breathing to allow us to be centered in the moment. From there, our reactions could be more level-headed as well as helpful and realistic. Deep, intentional breathing (often known as "Diaphragmatic Breathing") is one of those remedies for pretty much anything and is center to living in the present moment.
"Life is all memory, except for the one present moment that goes by you so quickly you hardly catch it going." - Tennessee Williams
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