Cool under pressure

I had a classmate in college, who was a great friend and I would’ve done anything for, but he bugged the hell out of me. Oh, he didn’t really annoy me, but he showed me how we were two very different people.

If I had a test coming up, I would study and stress over it, until I had the grade in my hands. I could tell you two weeks in advance, all the exams and projects that I had due and everything that I had coming up. Him? He was a cool cucumber, who never seemed to get rattled. You would see him walking on campus and think he had the world eating out of his hands, meanwhile, he was walking to take a huge exam and had to get together later that night to meet with other students on a class project.

Tests and grades didn’t get a rise out of him. You could never tell the many different balls that he had up in the air. He ran to the beat of a different drummer. He could have been a genius or one misstep from getting kicked out of school, I could never tell.

Photo by Shreeneet Rathi on Pexels.

I’ve never been that kind of person. My mind is constantly working, trying to solve the challenges and puzzles that face me and those around me. I can’t always turn off my brain. In fact, when I really care about a challenge or issue, there are many times when I don’t get a lot of rest.

Hence, the reason why I’m writing this piece at 3 a.m.

I write more about puzzles and how thinking ahead helped with a work challenge several years ago in my story, A puzzling problem, on the The Heart of the Matter. When I do solve a puzzle or issue that has been challenging me like the one I mention in my Heart of the Matter post, I celebrate with everything in my body.

Unlike my friend, you’re going to know that I solved the puzzle. So, yes, it’s time to celebrate!

Related Story

A puzzling problem

on The Heart of The Matter

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32 thoughts on “Cool under pressure”

  2. He could have been a genius or one misstep from getting kicked out of school, I could never tell.

    This sounds a lot like me, to be honest. I didn’t get the best grades in school, despite having a well-documented high IQ. Teachers repeatedly told me that I wouldn’t go anywhere in life and that I was a failure who would end up being a nobody. And yet, decades later, I ended up being one of the most successful people from my graduating class.

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    1. “Teachers repeatedly told me that I wouldn’t go anywhere in life and that I was a failure who would end up being a nobody.” Why do people, say stupid stuff like that. I get trying to discipline a student to get them to care and take an interest in school, but why say stupid crap like that. It doesn’t help. I know for me, the teachers that made the difference were the ones that showed me they cared and helped show me that I could rise above my circumstances. Good for you Thomas!

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  3. I was more like you. I’d study, study study. I had a chemistry teacher in high school who gave us a test every day. He’d adjust his seating chart each day according to how well we scored. I was always in seat 1 or 2. The teacher told me my brother would never amount to anything because he didn’t try like I did. My brother is two years older and sat in the B or C rows. He was hugely successful and retired a multi millionaire before 40.

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    1. I hated teachers who made comments like that. How do they know what will happen to kids down the road? Good for your brother. Good for you though studying too. We’re all different. I definitely needed to study. My grades would’ve been a mess otherwise. Ha, ah.

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  4. Like Thomas, this sounds like me, except I did get decent grades in school, without really trying. Imagine if I had studied! I had great potential but was just lazy if I didn’t have to try, why should I?

    It got a little harder in College and I was forced to study (the night before) and would have done a lot better had I made an effort. Maybe I wouldn’t be where I am now, either. Stoopid me 🙄

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    1. It’s funny, I don’t know what happened to this guy. We lost touch by senior year. I think he graduated. There was another guy just like him on our freshman dorm floor and I know that he definitely flunked out. He couldn’t handle the heavy workload that college brought. It was kind of a shame too. He was a pretty good writer, but he was pretty spoiled and liked to party. He was long for college.

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  6. I’m like you with one exception: I can easily turn off my brain. Most days, at least. And every night. Much to the chagrin of my wife, who isn’t so fortunate.

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  7. You go Brian! 👍🏼 I am like you my friend. It is hard to switch my brain off, that’s why I keep a pad and pen by my bedside. It seems like my amazing ideas come around that bewitching hour of 3a.m. too! 🥱💤😍

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  9. Sounds like a case of opposites attract, Brian! I’m with you about wanting to be prepared ahead of time. But to each to their own drum!

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    1. No, I don’t sadly. We lost track of each other by senior year. Another guy very similar to him, ended up leaving school. He was a little too calm and collected and ended up letting the studying slip. I just know that I wasn’t like either of them. Ha, ha.

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      2. I’ve met the calm and collected types who ended up flunking out and ones who studied, even though, you never saw it and managed to be quite successful. The thing I envied with my friend is that I know he studied some, but what I really liked was how calm he approached every problem. I wish I had that skill, but my perfectionism comes out and my worries. They’re not necessarily bad skills, but I just need to make sure they don’t become negative. If that makes sense!!! Ha, ha.

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      3. Calmy approaching problems is a fabulous skill to have and one that can be developed over time. Naturally born cool cucumbers seem a rare breed. It does make sense, yes. 👍🏻

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    1. Oh, we’re definitely crazy Cindy. No question about it. Certifiable! Would the sane pass up lush beautiful sleep to slave over a keyboard or stare at a blank page? I don’t care how wonderful it is to have a nice new notebook to write down your latest and greatest thought. Or how wonderful the idea sounds in your head. The sane would be sleeping!!!! Ha, ha. (But, I’m glad I’m not the only crazy one!!!!)

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  12. It’s interesting how people can deal with stress in such different ways. I sometimes wish I could be more like your friend where my stress wouldn’t show, but I’ve come to terms with the fact that some of my best thinking can come during those late nights when my brain won’t seem to turn off!

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