If That Were True – Keep It Together

Life has its moments. This is for sure.
We all know what stress feels like, We all know what it’s like to have anxiety or to have that moment when something happens, quick, hurry! And we almost crash or fall or there’s almost an accident and our body is at a heightened state of alert.
We can’t live this way. We can’t run at full speed all the time. Whether we like it or not, we have to find a way to pump the brakes. Otherwise, the risk of a personal burnout is severe.

Perhaps you might remember what we talked about the other day . . .
No machine can run at full throttle forever.
Eventually, we go “BOOM!”

It’s funny too, expressing myself like this.
It’s also humbling.
It’s funny how people come along to take their shots at me – anonymously, of course.
(Or call me disturbing)
Meanwhile, here I am, looking for us to make our way to a better place.
But first, we have to find a way to “Keep it together!”
By the way, this is not always an easy thing to do.
To keep it together, I mean,
But if we are looking to find peace – then we have to figure out how to remain calm, at least a little.

There was a time, way back when, which seems like another lifetime ago – but then again, this is the thing when it comes to age. I look back to when I was a younger man. I go back to a time when I had to prepare for a test to become an operating engineer.
I had to pass a test in two parts. And this was a bitch!
Either way, this is what needed to be done.

I was working to earn my Certificate of Fitness which is what we in my industry used to call “A ticket.”
I remember the time when I was going to school to become a qualified candidate.
I was just a helper then.
I was told when I was a  helper: “You’re a helper until you get your ticket.”
The ticket in this regard meant an operator’s license to run and maintain large refrigeration equipment inside big commercial office buildings.
This was no easy test.

Well, at least not to me.
First was the written test which was easier.
I say easier because all a qualified person would need to do is retain enough information to pass the written part of the exam.
The practical part was far from easy.
But this is what people in my industry needed to do if they wanted to get “their ticket.”

The reason why we called the license “a ticket” is because this was a ticket to making a good living.
“You get your ticket and then you’re set!”

That’s what I was told.
I can say this is true.
I can also say there is a misconception about skilled and organized trades when it comes to earning potential.
I have heard from people in white collars about their salary – and to me, I say “let’s trade W2’s at the end of the year and see who smiles . . .”
Hence, this is why I got my ticket.
I had to study for this.
I had to study hard too.
But more, I had to find a way to keep it together.
Otherwise, I’d have cracked under the pressure.

The written test was not too terrible. Although, it is only fair for me to explain that on top of my social anxiety, I have severe anxiety when it comes to taking tests. I hate tests. I hate them all.
But the written test was not the worst of it.
No . . .
In order to pass and be certified, a qualified applicant must pass this test in two parts.
So, first is the written and second is the practical.
To be clear, the practical is a bitch!
(And a half!)

The questions and the test itself were not so difficult. However, the practical is to show that the candidate can also apply their knowledge both safely and accurately while under stressful or potentially dangerous conditions.
So, without getting into too much information regarding basic refrigeration or the operation of the refrigeration cycle, and without going into all the information that goes along with passing the test, perhaps it is best that I explain it in simple terms.
You had to know how to keep it together.
I say this because the able candidate must show that they can apply their knowledge in a safe and practical way.

I remember this test.
I had to answer questions on an old refrigeration machine that was situated in an old machine room in downtown, Brooklyn.
The test was broken up in two parts because there were two machines used inn the testing process. One machine was a low-pressure chiller which operated at lower refrigeration pressure and the other was a high-pressure machine.
There are four proctors who give this test. They come at you like, good cop/bad cop. Their aim is to see if they can trip you or have you second guess yourself.

I was yelled at. I was picked on and ridiculed.
(But I’ve been through this before.)
I had to answer basic equipment questions as well as important safety questions.
All the while, there’s always one of them who comes at the applicant like some evil bastard, yelling and making a scene, as if they enjoy this, like a joke. I can tell you this was brutal.
They came at me as if they had the right to berate or degrade me. But their reasons were made clear to me before entering the examination.
You have to keep it together.
They want to see if you are going to shake or fold under pressure.
So, they brutalize you into almost quitting.

I was asked how to charge the machine with refrigerant. I was asked about the different parts of the machine and I was told to identify different items in the equipment room.
I was asked different safety questions which, again, was all done with a good cop/bad cop mentality.

I was yelled at. I was shaken. I was pushed to see if I wanted to change my answers. The proctors do this because there are moments when life is in red-alert.
A crisis can happen at any given moment and to be safe, it pays to keep calm.
It pays to make rational decisions.
But more . . .
It pays to keep it together.

Sometimes, you have to think fast.
You have to move fast and in the case of an emergency, you have to move smart too.
Someone could get hurt – and that someone could be anyone.
(Including me)

I can say the same needs to take place when any emergency happens.
Say, for example, driving.
We have to know how to move to avoid a crash or an accident. Sometimes, we have to learn the hard way. Sometimes, practical experience is only learned through practical experience. And there’s no way around it.
You have to fall to know what it means to get back up.

I am a person who encounters problems on a regular basis.
Despite my efforts to grow my brand and to expand my dream, I still have my day job.
This means that yes, I still have “my ticket,” so-to-speak.
I have responsibilities that need my attention and whether I know what to do or not, there are times when emergencies occur.
This is when cooler heads prevail.

We can’t lose our minds. We can’t freak out.
We have to remove our emotions, at least for the moment.
We have to operate from a logical standpoint, not an emotional one.
We have to use strategy.
We cannot be hinged to or addicted to passion or emotion. No, in times like this, we have to become stoic.
We have to keep it together.
If we need to, we can lose our shit later.
We can freak out after and we can scream and cry. But for now, we have grown-folks business to take care of.

I know that times are intense.
I know this is happening to me right now.
Life is intense.
I have emergency situations which happen all around me.
And this happens all the time.
I’ll lose my shit tomorrow, I say.
I can’t do that today because right now, I have grown-folk business to take care of.

There is no time for baby-talk or whining or bitching.
There’s no time for complaining either because none of this makes any emergency better.
This doesn’t make a crisis go away either. 
I used to hear people say, “Handle your business.”
And I agree. This is the way to go.
Handle your business
and keep it together.

Anything else is just a meltdown.
I think we’ve seen enough of those.