“Fear not!”  (Gen. 15:1.  See also Gen. 21:17; 26:24; 35:17; 43:23; 46:3; 50:19; Exod. 20:20; Deut. 1:21; 20:3; 31:6,8; Jos. 8:1; 10:25; Jdg. 4:18; 6:10,23; Ruth 3:11; 1 Sam. 4:20; 12:20; 22:23; 23:17; 2 Sam. 9:7; 13:28; 1 Ki. 17:13; 2 Ki. 6:16; 17:34; 25:24; 1 Chr. 28:20; 2 Chr. 20:17; Ps. 55:19; 64:4; Isa. 7:4; 35:4; 41:13f; 43:1,5; 44:2; 54:4; Jer. 40:9; 46:27; Lam. 3:57; Dan. 10:12,19; Joel 2:21; Zech. 8:13; Mal. 3:5; Matt. 1:20; 10:28; 28:5; Lk. 1:13,30; 2:10; 5:10; 8:50; 12:7,32; 18:4; Jn. 12:15; Acts 27:24; 1 Pet. 2:18; Rev. 1:17.)

I have a panic button, and I push it often.

For example, I will say to my wife, “Oh, dear!  I’ve forgotten/lost/forgotten to do __________!”

And then, after I’ve gotten myself and my wife all riled up, I remember that I have not forgotten/lost/forgotten to do __________ after all.

My wife has gotten into the habit of not paying attention to my panic button.  If I ever have a real emergency, I may be in real trouble.

So, why exactly do I hit the panic button so often?  I can answer that with great confidence: I have no idea.

However, I might have a few suspicions.

First of all, I suspect that I hit the panic button because I have attention deficit disorder, and it often really does contribute to my losing and/or forgetting things.  So, I figure that the safest thing is just to assume I have lost or forgotten something.  However, there is an old bit of wisdom that I regularly ignore that goes like this: “Never bet against yourself.  You’ll lose for sure!”  Perhaps I should pay more attention to that old saying.

Second, I think that, if I hit the panic button, maybe someone will come to my aid.  Here, I probably need to remember a child’s story with a very grown-up message: The Boy Who Cried Wolf.  He cried “Wolf!” as a joke one too many times.  When a wolf really did attack, no one believed him.  (In one version of this old fable from Aesop, the wolf eats the shepherd boy, but I spare you any more gory details.)  My wife has made a radical, simple, and practical suggestion: “Why don’t you check first before you get me all stirred up?!”

A third suspicion is that part of my problem is the matter of time management.  If I am trying to pack too much living into life, I have a tendency to either really forget things, or at least think that I have.  If I managed my time more wisely, perhaps I would be less prone to hit the red button.

But whatever the reason (or excuse??) for hitting the panic button, I’ve come to one conclusion: It is never ever helpful to hit the panic button.  It just makes me and everyone around me feel more panicky, and less able to deal with any real problems.

In one of my favorite movies, “Apollo 13,” Flight Direction Gene Kranz, says, “Let’s work the problem, people.  Let’s not make things worse by guessing.”

So, how do I disconnect the wires of the panic button?  I don’t know, but I’m going to figure it out.  Perhaps taking a few deep breaths might help.  Breathing is a good idea at any time, and breathing deeply is the best kind of breathing.  Holding my breath or panting is usually a prelude to hitting the panic button.

Perhaps praying the Serenity Prayer might help.  Then, there is the “5-Day Spiritual Adventure” prayer that I learned many years ago: “Calm my spirit, LORD!”  Combining slow breathing with one or both of these prayers could be an excellent mixed drink to calm my jangly nerves.

Dear readers, if you are prone to hit the panic button, and if you have anything that you’ve tried that works for you, don’t hesitate to e mail me with your suggestions.   You may be helping me not only to write better blogs in the future, but you may also help to lengthen my wife’s life.