Panic is Contagious

So yesterday, I was feeling pretty good about my qualifier. I had achieved a calm state of mind, and had accepted that whatever would happen would happen.

I went into school today to do a little studying without Penny trying to sit in my lap, and maybe ask some clarification on a point from one of my classmates. I found a bunch of them studying in the conference room after I had been there a little while, so I thought I'd sit down, listen to what they were discussing, etc.

I should not have done that. I'll do homework in a group, in undergrad there were a couple of people I could study with. I cannot study with my classmates at this point of the game. They are all just teetering on the edge of panic. It turns out that panic is contagious, even among scientist types.

Intellectually, even emotionally, I still feel good about my qualifier. By I feel physically panicked. I abandoned them at lunch time, came home and have been trying to re-achieve zen ever since. I changed my blog template so people could actually subscribe. I took Penny on a walk, and vented to my very patient mother. I watched "Avatar, the Last Airbender", and came up with a good theology post. And then another theology post to explain how I got a theology post out of Nickelodeon's anime-style show.

Still have not achieved physical calm. I'm hoping that my Thursday morning class does the trick, even if a good night's sleep doesn't. Otherwise, I don't know how I'm going to re-achieve calmness.

So, lesson learned. Panic is contagious. Do not hang out around panicking people.