A few years ago, my husband and I were flying in to New York – the final stop on our honeymoon…

It was late December, and it was an early morning flight which meant not only was the weather terrible, it was also pitch black outside. As we began our descent, it became clear that the mild turbulence we had been experiencing throughout the flight was just the beginning. Overhead bins burst open, personal belongings slid across the aisles and the cabin lights started to flicker.

Our descent turned into a rollercoaster ride after the pilot literally pulled up the nose of the plane as he announced over the speaker that it just wasn’t safe enough to land and he’d have to ‘try again’. With nothing but pitch black outside our windows, we had no idea how far off the tarmac we were and people started to panic – including me.

The weird thing is I can recall with absolute clarity, looking around in that moment, everything suddenly going all Matrix slo-mo and thinking, ‘I could very easily lose my sh** right now. But I’m not going to. I’m not going to panic. I’m going to keep it together. I will not lose my sh**.’  It felt like an out of body experience.

I don’t know about you but, for me right now, life has way too many of these moments. Just when you think you’ve got a grip, or found a groove, you get blindsided by something that spirals your mind into a frenzy. You have no idea what lies outside of your view and you feel thrown into a situation you can’t fully grasp.

The next time you find yourself experiencing one of these moments – i.e. you find yourself in the middle of a turbulent ‘air pocket’ and you start to panic – say to yourself out loud…

I could very easily lose my sh** right now. But I’m not going to. I’m going to keep it together. I will not lose my sh**.

It sounds mad (so you may want to shut the door before you do so!) but it actually works!

Life, work – and the world in general – are crazy right now but I am determined to not only not lose my sh** but also to help you to not lose yours! We just need to keep it together until we can come in for a safe landing.

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Appeared in: Education Executive Magazine (@edexec)