Lance Corporal Jones in Dad’s Army was always urging us (and himself) – “Don’t panic! Don’t panic!”
Calm during times of stress. Stoicism.
Kipling celebrated both in his poem If – “If you can keep your head when all about you / Are losing theirs…”
I tend not to panic. But maybe I should.
I sometimes wonder if there is a delicious sense of liberation to be discovered through panicking. Loosening up. Primal screaming. Abandoning yourself to YAH! Being drunk on unreason. Dancing crazily. Running and running without having to bother with direction. Bungee jumping away from your worries.
Like that moment of mass doomsday panic in the Simpsons Movie where the people inside the bar rush outside and into the next door church – passing on their way the congregation of the church rushing towards the bar.
Hmmm… I’ll keep it in mind.
Meanwhile, speaking of panic… Remember this?
Maybe we should have a Complete This Sentence competition: “I panicked when…”
This is a Friday post for the Loose Bloggers Consortium. You can see how panicked the rest of them are by scrolling down the right hand side of your screen till you reach their links. Then take a deep breath. Hold it. Let it out slowly. And click calmly and decisively.
Blackwatertown 
I panicked when…………zipper of pants need I say more.
I doubt you were able to say anything at all – only yell.
I panicked after I said “I’ve never seen a bull charge in all my born days……”
XO
WWW
I know what you mean. Back in the day bulls did it for free. These days – everything costs. And the prices? Sheesh…
Paul, for the first time in my life I can’t complete a sentence. Because I never panic. Even when I should. In fact, never am I calmer than in a crisis. When the waters are calm I will splash.
U
I sense panic in your failure to complete that sentence.
Am more prone to panic than I’d like- most recently when curled up on the sofa, reading quietly. Nasty bugger, panic.
Oddly, I do calm when the shit hits the fan…
Nasty – and sneaky too.
I grew up in a household where panic was not encouraged. Nowadays with a heart condition, panic is not advisable and having people round me who become over excited or panicky only makes my situation worse.
A sit down and a nice cup of tea instead.
The problem with bungee jumping – as I see it – is you always spring back to reality. Sigh. Complete the sentence – that’s a good idea.
The nearest I got to panic was more than half a century ago at Salthill in Galway. I had swum out to a raft, maybe a couple of hundred yards out and was enjoying the view when I saw a lot of triangular fins cutting through the water a few hundred yards further out. Triangular fin equalled shark, so I dived in immediately and crawled to the shore as fast as I could. When I thought about it later, I think that they were dolphins but better sure than sorry.
Jumping off the raft was the odd thing maybe?
Yes – that’s the catch. The problem is there waiting for you once you bounce back.
Believe me, Paul, if you’re someone who’s subject to very serious panic attacks (maybe lasting for hours), it’s no joke at all, and not in any way liberating. The person just feels utterly helpless and desperate. Fortunately I only suffer from very mild panic attacks, which don’t last very long.
Re Kipling’s poem, I like the amended version “If you can keep your head when all about you / Are losing theirs / Then you don’t understand the situation…”
Yes, I’m familiar with that alternative version of If – thanks for adding it in.
Re your main point – well, I was just wondering. Not liberating but paralysing. I’m glad I don’t know from first hand experience.
I panicked when Ms. XYZ proposed marriage to me!
She panicked when you said yes.
“Bungee jump away from your worries.” This is a great line, HH.
Blessings ~ Maxi
The Kipling version I like is the one that contains apple puree and a pie crust…
I love the line in the dad’s army clip (which I may be misquoting slightly as I’m old and, already, can’t remember it verbatim): “What do I do if the bomb goes off?” (To which the correct response is “kiss your arse goodbye”)
Thankfully I don’t panic anymore, and never thought I’d ever say that. But for comedy’s sake… er… um…
“I panicked when… um… er…”
Nope, it ain’t working…
You were panicking there trying to think of a snappy way to finish the sentence.
I’m not sure if the Loose Bloggers blog on Mondays but they might like to consider blogging on Blog Action Day, 15 October next. The general idea behind this annual outing is to have as many bloggers as possible simultaneously blogging on a particular theme. It not only encourages the bloggers to reflect on what they might write but also the readers to reflect on the theme.
The theme for this year’s BAD is “The Power of We” and is intended to reflect the power of community action or global campaigns and that sort of thing. You can get the picture here. Bloggers register and there is a bit of cross publicity involved.
I have so far registered three of my blogs for the occasion: Photopol (personal, English language), An Cnagaire (personal, Irish language), and Dominusvobiscuit (religious stuff).
Sorry, the last paragraph should have read:
I have so far registered three of my blogs for the occasion: Photopol (personal, English language), An Cnagaire (personal, Irish language), and Dominusvobiscuit (religious stuff).
Have you ever considered including a preview window for comments. I often only discover my mistakes after I’ve submitted the comment, despite one or two readovers beforehand.
Ta for the tip. The Power of We? I’ll have a think about it.
Meanwhile re the preview window. I think you get one of those if the blog comment are set up to require a wordcaptcha security thingmy. I can’t stand them myself – I get rejected as often as not.
Awesome! Great to find someone with some original thoughts.
We need a bit more originality!