How can we desensitize ourselves from fear?
The whole entire cockpit shook and rattled violently as the earth’s gravitational force latched onto the helpless and crippled spacecraft and dragged it down into the depths of the earth’s atmosphere.
“Houston! We have a problem!” screamed the young astronaut as he frantically unbuckled his seat belt and tried to extinguish the electrical fire inside the STS-83 space shuttle.
“Marshall, what seems to be the problem?” crackled a voice from mission control.
“We are descending at approximately 18,540 mph! There is an electrical fire that has short-circuited our entire control panel. We are all going to die!” howled the terror-stricken astronaut.
“Get back in your seat, Marshall” barked the commanding pilot as he calmly fiddled with the bundle of wires that shook dizzyingly in front of him.
“You heard the Commander,” coolly echoed the flight engineer as he calculated the amount of time they had before impact. “If you don’t get back into your seat in the next 18 seconds, there is absolutely no chance you are going to make it out of here alive.”
“Are you two crazy?” screamed the young astronaut as he stared wildly into the commander’s strangely serene yet concentrated eyes. “How can you both be so calm when we are all about to die?”
In the final moment before impact, the commander finally turned his gaze to meet the young astronaut’s and said, “This is not the first time I have died. Even though we have failed this mission today, we will need to try again tomorrow.”
With those bewildering final words still ringing in his ears, the young astronaut was soon violently devoured by 3000 degree Fahrenheit flames. The vision of searing heat and carnage was only cut short when the VR headsets were finally pried off of their sweat-soaked faces. They were once again bathed in the cool and sterile lights that hung from NASA’s high-tech training facility.
Simulations are not only helpful towards astronauts as they prepare themselves to face life-threatening situations. But simulating our greatest fears and worries, while harnessed to the safety of our imaginations, can also help us better cope and confront the problems we often overinflate in our minds.
