Moments During Termor

I was working and was in a meeting. Neo was lazy and lounging on a bean bag. Fluffy and Garph were taking a nap. Weird enough, I could hear Saroo and Blue were having a quintessential sibling fight few minutes ago in the upstairs bedroom (yeah, Saroo is probably the culprit).

Then I heard a weird noise buzzing all around and the whole house started shaking... my heart started pounding. My mind was engulfed with thoughts that NYC has been attacked and there are fighter planes flying above. But yet, part of me said this is an earthquake. 

Those few moments felt like eternity. 

I had no control in front of mother nature. I wanted to save all five in the house and I had no idea how to do it. My mind was refusing to draw a clear plan in those moments.  

And it stopped. 

My heart and body was still pounding, expecting an aftershock which might be worse. But nothing of that sort happened. 

Those few helpless moments, I remembered my favorite lines; a meta value of mine: 

Mind as a River

Understand: the greatest generals, the most creative strategists, stand out not because they have more knowledge but because they are able, when necessary, to drop their preconceived notions and focus intensely on the present moment. That is how creativity is sparked and opportunities are seized. Knowledge, experience, and theory have limitations: no amount of thinking in advance can prepare you for the chaos of life, for the infinite possibilities of the moment. The great philosopher of war Carl von Clausewitz called this "friction": the difference between our plans and what actually happens. Since friction is inevitable, our minds have to be capable of keeping up with change and adapting to the unexpected. The better we can adapt our thoughts to the current circumstances, the more realistic our responses to them will be....

Think of the mind as a river: the faster it flows, the better it keeps up with the present and responds to change. The faster it flows, also the more it refreshes itself and the greater its energy. Obsessional thoughts, past experiences (whether traumas or successes), and preconceived notions are like boulders or mud in this river, settling and hardening there and damming it up. The river stops moving; stagnation sets in. You must wage constant war on this tendency in the mind. 

- The 33 Strategies of  War by Robert Greene

No amount of preparation would have allowed me to plan and react accordingly in those moments. 

But this meta value and inner peace, is probably what I depend on most to help me think clearly  if the worse would have happened. No one can preplan in this uncertain life but lifelong meditative understanding of fragility, epistemic humility and the importance of a clear mind without preconceived notions is what I depend on to make decisions during good and bad moments. 

I survived. Everyone around me survived. The gift of life continues. 

Eschew clinging to the past, building future "legacy", and zillion other pleasures humans seek causing so much pain and suffering.  

Heaven on earth is nothing but life itself.