How to find a worthy exit

Once upon a time, a fire broke out in the building of the London Opera during a performance. The hall was full, the audience rushed to the exit. Crowds of people clogged all the passages, a stampede, panic began, everyone tried to break through first, no one managed to get out … The situation became catastrophic. And suddenly, the hymn known to every Englishman “Rule, Britannia, by the seas …” sounded throughout the hall. The famous singer calmly stood on the stage and sang as if he had a solo concert, as if nothing was happening around. And people came to their senses. They began to calmly line up one after another and quickly found themselves on the street. The father, who told me this story, claimed that no one died then …

What happened? The famous singer, who could easily leave the burning building through the service entrance, remained risking his life with his audience to address them. The anthem became his appeal, as well as the fact that he remained. By doing this, he restored people’s self-esteem. His behavior showed that he was sure that he had someone to turn to. I think that this conviction played no less a role in the impression made than his personal courage and the sound of the anthem, so important to the self-consciousness of the English. People saw that their behavior is incompatible with self-respect, and without it, life simply loses its meaning. The only worthy solution was to change their behavior – which, fortunately, happened. There is a two-way relationship between the search for a way out of a critical situation and self-esteem. On the one hand, without a sufficiently high self-esteem, it is difficult to mobilize all one’s own forces and resources to overcome an obstacle. After all, we cannot know in advance what to do: we have to be flexible, change our behavior if the chosen course of action turns out to be unsuccessful. This difficult task requires faith in yourself. On the other hand, if we are able to be active in the face of uncertainty, refusing to panic and capitulate, overcoming the feeling of our own helplessness, then this increases our self-esteem. This is worth remembering if we want to protect our children: it is important for us not only to aim them to find a way out in any circumstances, but also to strengthen their self-esteem and self-confidence. The English opera was really on fire, and more than once – this is a historical fact. But was there really an episode with the singing of the anthem? Do not even know. To be honest, I didn’t try to figure it out. But this story, which I heard from my father at the age of ten, I remembered forever.