Keeping cool has two possible meanings. One is to keep cool on a warm day.
The other is to keep cool under pressure. Keeping cool on a warm day is a
relatively simple thing. You either switch on the fan or air-conditioner, or go
some place that has one. Keeping cool under pressure is definitely harder. It
requires a presence of mind.
By pressure I mean any situation than can possibly cause excitement,
agitation, disturbance, anger, frustration, fear or other emotions within. When
one is affected by any emotion, one is liable to act inappropriately and bring
terrible consequences upon oneself. Examples of this are
aplenty. Let us look at a few. In today's cities, the roads are
usually jam-packed with vehicles. It is very easy to get angry by the
irresponsible action of other drivers. There have been many cases in which
frayed temper resulted in in jury or death
for those involved. In a moment of rage, one driver beat another o death, only
to face the hangman noose himself. If they had kept cool or calm, the tense
moment would have passed and they would have continued on their way without too
much of a fuss. In my younger days, I
myself had got into fistfights with some of my friends because of some silly
argument. It seems ridiculous now but at the time, we let anger get the better
of ourselves and resorted to violence. I found out that the best thing to do is
to avoid conflict and argument in the first place. If that is not possible, then
stay cool as much as possible and not get angry. This is easier said than done,
but experience had taught me that it is far better to stay cool under trying
circumstances.
When things are going well, it is easy to get excited, but I learned that
excitement has a terrible opposite -- depression. Get excited one day and
depression is bound to follow the next day. A high is always followed by a low.
Keeping cool is still the best thing to do. If I do not get excited, there is no
depression to deal with. Getting excited, agitated, depressed, emotional,
angry or fearful is very unpleasant. it is much better to keep cool. |