When things don’t go according to plan
Keeping your cool seems like something
That is reserved for people with low key personalities
Who are masters at keeping a poker face.
Panic, therefore, often seems inevitable,
Linked to someone’s DNA.
But maybe panic isn’t a personality trait
Maybe its a choice.
A choice to freak out because
Life is doing what life does best:
Changing without our permission.
In the face of things not going as we hoped they would
Being overly attached to a specific chain
Of events is just as harmful as
Rehearsing the worst case scenario
Over and over again.
Maybe underneath the hyperventilating
And catastrophizing,
Is an unchecked desire to sovereign over
Every outcome.
Ironically, choosing to panic
When we don’t get our way
Guarantees us even less control.