mythbusters

so this bridge collapse has me completely freaked out.

for some reason i have a lot of anxiety about my vehicle going into the water. my fear of this happening is fairly recent (the last couple of years or so) and it's bad enough that i have investigated those little hammer things that break the windows in a vehicle, and suggested to my husband that someone invent some inflatable thing in the roof of a car that makes it float were it ever to become submerged.

i believe that we move toward what we picture in our minds (LONG before Oprah and The big Secret told us to) so when i start to imagine what i would do if it happened, i get mad at myself when my mind suddenly puts my kids in the back seats. "NO, mind" I think to myself "stop visualizing that" and I always finish the thought with me figuring out how to release them and get us all out and safe (just in case my mind really is that powerful).

watching the bridge tragedy unfold and the aftermath was terrible but i could not change the channel. i wanted to hear that no one drowned and people really are able to get out of submerged vehicles (to ease my fears). i saw the cars on the bridge in the water and thought, "well that wouldn't be so bad, they just rode the bridge down and didn't really go in the water." then i heard about the 20 or so cars that they believed were under water and 20 to 30 missing people. stomach sinking feeling.

i was relieved to hear that estimate was high but still sad about those who did drown. i just prayed that they were unconscious or the impact killed them and they didn't struggle to get out and drown with all that fear (especially the mom and her toddler ~ i choose to believe that God took them quickly because the alternative is too much to process).

mythbusters did a show on getting out of a car submerged and it was interesting but of course my mind decided it was a "sign" that it's going to happen to me and i was supposed to watch that show so i would know what to do. i did pay attention. ultimately they said that the little hammers and the punch tools DO work to shatter glass under water but it is IMPOSSIBLE to roll down your window (manual or electric). they said you can hold your breath much longer if you calm yourself down and just sit and wait calmly for the water to completely fill the inside of your car (of course if you have children in the back seat, you should use that time to release them from car seats, etc.). hold your breath and when the car is completely filled with water the door just opens and you can swim up. the mythbuster guy freaked out the first few times and had to be "saved" but then he took a tantric breathing class and put those principles into action and was able to get out of the car with no problem.