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How Not to Freak out — Using a Combination of Stoicism and Mindfulness
“Don’t freak out.” Such great advice. While we’re at it, let’s also “not get sick,” “not feel pain,” and “not die, ever.” And, please, someone tell the climate not to warm up.
Seriously, how do you not freak out? How exactly do you go about it? I mean, sometimes the world is just an unholy mess and it hurls real stinkers at you: you lose your job, you have an accident, you get seriously ill, a loved one dies. What do you do to “not freak out”? Is there anything you can do?
Well, yes. Actually, there is.
Let’s begin by taking a look at a human brain. You can think of a human brain as having two separate areas:
One is the observation deck. This is where you perceive the world. It’s where the outside world first registers in your brain:
The other is the control station. This is where the sensory inputs received at the observation deck turn into actions:
