Monday; August 26

I have been hanging around the police for over twenty years now and I have made a few observations.  The first one is that when people deal with the police it typically causes stress.  Even something as simple as being pulled over for a relatively minor traffic offense tends to elevate the blood pressure and heart rate.  The second thing I have noticed is that when people are under stress, they don’t function as well as they do when they are relaxed.  Articulate people tend to stutter or misspeak when they are asked simple questions.  People even have trouble reading things – like seeing the word “Chaplain” written on my shirt and calling me “Captain”.  Simply, stress does not typically bring out the best in us.
The reason I bring up this topic is not to address citizen-police encounters, rather it is encourage us to think about the decisions we make under stressful situations.  If something as simple as a traffic stop can derail us imagine the impact a life-altering situation can have on our cognitive abilities.  When we face things like a divorce, children leaving home, job insecurity or the discovery of a potentially serious illness we might be better off to delay our decision-making until we can regain control.  I realize there could be times when decisions need to be made in the midst of crisis, but as often as we can, maybe the best thing we can do is back off until the storms of life pass.  Hopefully, by then, reason and common sense will return and we’ll make better choices.
Think About It!

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