Playing With The Deck You're Dealt

 

YES YES Yow, our LIFE IS LIKE THE DECK OF CARDS.  We can claim to be the most seasoned players in those casinos OR even at the Las Vegas strip BUT the real truth is that we can only play based on the DECK we're dealt.  And this is where we're drawing the parallelism with life itself.  Even for those truly blessed, born with a silver spoon, once the cards on the deck are shuffled, everything becomes an even playing field and WHAT's our only option then?  It is to play the cards right, to the best of our judgment.  In life, that equates to us accepting our situation, per se.  Much as WHAT's happening in the casinos, me and you CAN'T change the hand that dealt those cards on us📗📙📘

In the shortest words, WHAT do we need to do?  It is for us to focus on anything and everything we can control, period.  Problem is, there is that human nature WHEN we [wrongly] feel that we can control way beyond our domain, our turf.  WHAT does that leave us with?  Instead of wasting those futile attempts to focus on those 'uncontrollables', those we either lack OR we CAN'T change, let us redirect our focus on our actions, our attitudes that go along with it.  No less than that💥💥💥

WHAT else is left with us then?  Plain and simple.  Let us make the best of it, stretching it, flipping it out, making the best of the cards you have at hand.  Let's take a sampling of real-life scenarios.  At the workplace, WHEN we're angling for a job promotion BUT fail to realize that goal, WHAT do we do next?  Obviously, it DOESN'T make sense to simply quit from that organization.  Instead, WHY DON'T we redirect and infuse all our energy and motivation to work harder and prove your value even way before the next future opportunity comes.  Regardless if the decision makers in the future are different, they might see in you WHAT was NOT recognized in your failed hopes in the past💚💛💜

If there is a message that keeps resonating throughout my life, it is the undeniable fact that life ISN'T determined by the cards we are dealt with. Imagine if the cards are shuffled and we end up with a Black Joker card that throws us outright and even punches right through our stomach?  YES, it still remains amazing HOW something as serious as and precious as life is compared to the deck of cards❎❎❎

Our takeaway:  I've heard these statements a zillion times in the past and it's frustrating & pitiful:

"I WAS BORN POOR.  WHAT CAN I EXPECT?"

"EVER SINCE, I'M NOT GOOD AT THAT AT ALL"

"WHAT ELSE CAN I DO, IF THIS MY FATE?"

YES dude, those are pitiful expressions that only lead situations to even go from bad to worse.  Call it mindset. Call it self-motivation.  Call it your attitude in life.  PLAYING WITH THE DECK YOU'RE DEALT is your best option dude💥💥💥

When The Ship Has Long Sailed...

 

WHEN THE SHIP HAS LONG SAILED.  Yes, indeed, do we remember how many opportunities we missed in our life?  Seriously, I never bothered to keep that score in my journal BUT I recall that I missed a couple of opportunities I deem as materially significant and/or impactful.  LIKE that academic scholarship I missed.  LIKE that career opportunity I missed [had I continued my law studies].  LIKE if I didn't resign from my previous organization as that would have positioned me next in the totem pole.  LIKE WHEN I quit the very first pilot Nihonggo class [which could have positioned me well enough for career advancements in a Japanese-centric organization.  Surely, you have your share of SHIPS THAT HAVE LONG SAILED📗📙📘

It's human nature to regret [and even blame our own selves] WHEN we missed an opportunity that would have led you to reap this fruit OR that path towards your goal.  BUT WHAT is often overlooked here is that, sometimes, missed opportunities often end up being the 'course corrections' we need in our lives.  True, in those MISSED OPPORTUNITIES, we are led into serious disappointments, and even rejections, WHETHER those are the top schools in your country OR a 'dream job' WHICH you have literally dreamt and hoped for the longest time.  BUT after having a MISSED OPPORTUNITY, it could turn out to be the best thing that could have happened💚💛💜

Let's listen to WHAT psychologists counsel us, WHICH is, for us to actively process our feelings as the crucial first step for us to reframe our negative feelings into positive action WHEN things DON'T work out the way we'd initially hoped for.  I recall one of my first MISSED OPPORTUNITIES early on, I struggled BUT eventually realized that in the process of NOT getting WHAT I wanted, I had that deep self-reflection about WHAT actually motivated me and WHAT I wanted to do with the rest of my life.  Even relationships, WHICH are sensitive topics to cover, WHEN it leads to a breakup, many researches showed statistical data that such breakups did spark renewed love and even success in one's career.  HOW often do we hear that one MISSED OPPORTUNITY led you to a much better life???

Once I stumbled across this philosophical statement, that is, 'YOUR DESTINY IS TIED TO YOUR INTUITION'.  And on one occasion, someone confided to me that he ignored his intuition and in his post mortem, he learned from that painful experience that bad things result WHEN we would tend to push past our better judgment in pursuit of a goal.  Sometimes, a MISSED OPPORTUNITY becomes a blessing in disguise.  LIKE you joined a new organization BUT after a month OR two, you quit because you thought that the company's values are NOT aligned to you!!!

Our takeaway:  I heard this sage advice a zillion times and allow me to piggy-back on it.  That WHEN you stumble with those MISSED OPPORTUNITIES, two important things to remember.  Firstly, avoid dwelling on the past and instead accept that you cannot change WHAT has already happened.  And instead, embrace the 'NOW' because the present is all you truly have, so make the most of it.  Obviously, we got to learn from the past and alongside it, motivate yourself to gain a new perspective, recognizing whatever past mistakes as they become the very core of your valuable lessons in life.  YES dude, WHEN THE SHIP HAS LONG SAILED, that's NOT the end of the world.  For all you know, that MISSED OPPORTUNITY is, after all, a blessing in disguise, that 'manna from heaven'😁😁😁

Tim & Demi-Leigh Tebow Lost BIGTIME But Now They're BETTER OFF!

 

Tim and Demi-Leigh Tebow are a power couple, NOT because of sheer power BUT because even before they got married, Tim was already a famous American professional football quarterback.  Besides his competitive sports, Tim would periodically visit the Philippines [WHERE he was born to his missionary parents], eventually becoming the founder of the Tebow CURE Children's Hospital in Davao City😀😀😀

Demi-Leigh was famous in her own right, being South Africa's most famous beauty queen WHO was crowned Miss Universe 2017.  Combining two famous personalities undoubtedly and quite effortlessly led to forming the 'power couple' everyone looked up to.  And if there was a global contest for the 'Most USA' couple in the world, surely they will win it hands down as they check all the boxes of both a beauty queen and a famous U.S. NFL quarterback!!!

NOT seating on their laurels, they had millions of followers on social media, and that's besides going to church together on Sundays.  YES, at some points in their life, they were both briefly BUT blindingly famous.  THEN, at some point, they both hit 'rock bottom' both individually and even as a couple.  And akin to the toughest ordeals in life, things can go down the drain much faster than one could have anticipated❎❎❎

As we speak now, both Tim and Demi-Leigh are about to launch each of their books.  As a sneak preview, we are told that both their books are very much similar, inspirational in purpose and very much drawn from their lives [especially WHEN they hit that 'rock bottom'].  Taking a sneak preview of their books, Demi-Leigh has written a 100-day devotional, building on the lessons of her memoir, about HOW she had to find a new identity after her reign as Miss Universe and the lessons she learnt💧💧💧

Our takeaway:  More than just being a power couple, Tim and Demi-Leigh have touched thousands of hearts with their very selfless advocacies, with Tim flying all the way to Afghanistan [even WHEN the U.S. forces were frantically leaving] as the actual hardships he witnessed did reframe his thinking to focus more on advocacy work to people WHO he coined as the 'Real MVPs', the most vulnerable people,  YES, Tim & Demi-Leigh Tebow Lost BIGTIME But Now They're BETTER OFF💚💛💜

Rules May Change In The Middle Of The Game

 

For the longest time, we always heard from the old school that RULES ARE RULES AND YOU CAN'T CHANGE IT IN THE MIDDLE OF THE GAME, AT ALL.  Yes, verily true from way back.  Today, if we are one of the players in the market, the rules of engagement are NOT just changing BUT they have become so dynamic and often times fluid way beyond any of the predictive probabilities.  Even in the competitive world of sports, it's true that rules are NOT changed literally within the game BUT world federation organizations have been regularly reviewing and even 'tweaking' rules right on the aftermath of a bout OR a fight💧💧💧

In the boxing world, it is heavily regulated such that if you're a 100-pounded, you can only fight someone within your weight range.  That explains WHY there is even a FINAL WEIGH-IN [24 hours before the scheduled fight] to take a last check of the weight compliances of the protagonist.  BUT has that rule been cast in stone?  NO sirrrrrs.  Since boxing is NO less than a big-time $$$$$$$, boxing promoters have come up with 'catchweight' fights customized and tailored to meet the DEMANDS of the boxing superstars like Floyd Mayweather and Manny Pacquiao$$$$$

Studies did researches with children WHEREIN they asked WHAT happens WHEN children will draw pictures of somebody and share it?  Have we witnessed about the child's level of pride, excitement, joy OR his level of satisfaction with his drawing?  Those researches showed that adults lose the ability to feel excited about their work UNLESS they can do it perfectly, that pride of the effort and the excitement is taken away by the fear of being judged💥💥💥

This is something that we all face today, in all aspects of our lives, especially or professional lives.  WHEN the inventor of CHESS showed his invention to the King, the emperior was so impressed by the new game that he said to the inventor that he could name his reward.  And the game inventor said that his wish was plainly simple, that is, a grain of rice for the first square of the chessboard, two grains for the next square, four for the next, eight for the next and so on for all the 64 squares, with each square having double the number of grains as the square before.  The emperor agreed and was amazed that the man had asked for such a small reward!!!

Oooops, hold your breath.  After a week, his Treasurer came back and informed him that the reward would add up to an astronomical sum, far greater than all the rice that could conceivably be produced in many centuries.  So, the King DIDN'T realize he was committing to 1,100 times more rice that exists today in the world and a mountain of rice as high as Mount Everest.  Our takeaway:  Intuition CAN'T handle exponential growth and this is the game we're in these days.  RULES WILL CHANGE when the dynamics change.  YES dude, RULES MAY CHANGE IN THE MIDDLE OF THE GAME😡😡😡

When Material Things DON'T Really Matter

 

November 8th, a day after his home was all ablaze [WHEN his chartered flight had yet to land back in Miami, FL], Miami Heat Coach Erik Spoelstra was there at Kaseya Center, coaching his team for their next NBA game.  YES they won the game BUT that's NOT the banner story.  WHAT was remarkable was his poise and focus to quickly get back to work even in the aftermath of his personal trajedy.  Jaime Jaquez, one of his key players commented "MATERIAL THINGS DON'T REALLY MATTER.  IT'S THE PEOPLE WHO YOU SURROUND YOURSELF WITH".  Oh Oh, that was a mouthful and besides agreeing to it, I felt that utmost admiration for Erik Spoelstra to rise to the occassion, to get back to work despite that personal tragedy WHICH hit him and his family 24 hours ago💧💧💧

In that most recent floodings in the province of Cebu, Philippines, I watched one footage WHERE the hapless and innocent baby was laid down in a small basin to let it just float in the waters by itself, hoping the baby will still survive from the tragic floodings.  And as much as the flood victims are unable to think HOW they can recover from all the lost assets and material things, at the end of the day, "MATERIAL THINGS DON'T REALLY MATTER.  IT'S THE PEOPLE WHO YOU SURROUND YOURSELF WITH"📗📙📘

Apologies HOW, for the second consecutive day, I am devoting our daily thread to highlight these recent tragic stories hitting almost anyone regardless of one's standing in the economic strata.  YES, as a realization, I grabbed this very raw poster WHICH lists down the THINGS MONEY CAN'T BUY!!! Either behind it, beside it OR right in front it, the people WHO matter most to your life may be impacted depending on your standing in terms of MANNERS, MORALS, RESPECT, CHARACTER, COMMON SENSE, TRUST, PATIENCE, CLASS, INTEGRITY and LOVE.  YES dude, the last one, L-O-V-E envelopes our whole life and you and me CAN'T detach its ramifications in life❎❎❎

YES, the ramifications of trajedies are far-reaching.  Awhile back, I stumbled a social media comment "WHAT HAPPENS" to the housing loans and mortgages WHEN the house itself is gone?  Sadly, from the perspective of obligations and contracts, that liability stays and has to be settled BUT we're hoping that those business behemoths [WHO have been profiting at the expense of the workers] will awaken up and discover OR ignite their compassion to condone at least a portion of those obligations, WHICH surely, the debtors will NOT have the capacity to settle even if endeavor on a best efforts basis.  Much as corporate entities are NOT human, but alas, they are run by humans, right?  So, we're hoping human compassion kicks in💥💥💥
 

Our takeaway:  It's NOT too late for us to realize that as much as material things matter in our life, WHAT matters most are the safety, well-being and welfare of the people we value most in our life.  WHEN personal tragedies hit us, it's true it takes more than just sheer courage to 'rise from the ashes' BUT this boils down for us to reassess the situation and in a worst case scenario, WHERE a RESET and REBOOT is warranted, go for it if those are the only cards you can pull out to play [even IF they are the worst cards on your deck].  Let this quote resonate over and over again:  "MATERIAL THINGS DON'T REALLY MATTER.  IT'S THE PEOPLE WHO YOU SURROUND YOURSELF WITH"💚💛💜

Does Our Brain Invent Problems When Life SEEMS Easier?

 

Does Our Brain Invent Problems When Life SEEMS Easier?  Surprisingly, research studies support that suspicion lingering within us.  Frankly, the experts tell us that our brain is really capable to "INVENT" problems, no thanks to our complicity, WHEN we are OVERTHINKING which clinically is defined as a psychological phenomenon WHERE our definition of a threat expands to find new issues EVEN WHEN NONE EXISTS, whew!!!

The irony of these all is that our brain is very much capable to solve even the most complicated problems as studies show that we humans flexibly deploy different reasoning strategies to tackle challenging mental tasks, sometimes offering insights for building machines that think more like us.  And a key reason for this is that we humans can break the most difficult problem apart into manageable subtasks that end up easier to solve one at a time💚💛💜

And that allows us to complete a daily task just like going out for coffee by breaking it into the lowest level of each step and substep, LIKE getting out of your office building, navigating to the nearby coffee shop, and once there, ordering your favorite coffee.  YES, that strategy helps us to handle obstacles quite easily.  Just like if the elevator is broken, our countermeasure is to take the flight of stairs without altering or changing the other steps✅✅✅

Studies also showed that WHEN our brains are confronted with 'off the cuff' situations, instead of tracking all the possible paths, our brain will easily adapt by breaking up a task at hand down to the lowest level of a subtask.  And switching back to the other approach, WHEN we tend to shift to counterfactual reasoning, we would then review our memory although we are warned that our memories are NOT always reliable😡😡😡

Our takeaway:  To take a lift from insights from the experts, our brain does NOT process information, retrieve knowledge OR store memories.  In short, our brain is NOT a computer.  BUT the thing is, that 'information processing' [IP] metaphor of human intelligence now dominates our human thinking, both on the streets and even in sciences.  In short, there is virtually NO form of discourse about our human behavior could proceed.  So, if you hear that our brain seems to be inventing problems, NO sirrrrs.  We're OVER-THINKING by then dude😌😌😌

Yes, Resilience Leads To Recovery

 

Even before 2025 kicked in, a majority of forecasts and predictions, if you may, pointed to countless ominous [call it shockingly tragic] events that will hit our global village.  We DON'T need to look farther from the time Syria's long-time dictator Bashar a-Assad was overthrown just before 2024 ended in December.  Of course, we're aware that over there in Eastern EU, both Russia and Ukraine continue to be embroiled in their own regional war.  And WHEN 2025 finally unfolded, natural disasters hit us, from the floods and earthquakes in India and the Philippines to the countless earthquakes hitting almost all corners of the world📗📙📘

Yesterday's breaking news was altogether shockingly unique.  NBA Miami Heat ballclub's Coach Erik Spoelstra was still airborne [from an on-the-road game with Denver Nuggets and his chartered flight's ETA in Miami, Florida was 510am.  To his utter shock, WHEN he landed, his home at Coral Way, Miami-Dade County, an upscale neighborhood in Miami, Florida was literally engulfed in flames [since around 430am WHEN Miami's firefighters responded to a distress call].  OMG, no one amongst us wants to be in Erik Spoeltra's shoes that very moment, arriving at your home in the wee hours of the morning, WHEN you are mentally, emotionally and physically drained [after Miami Heat's loss to Denver Nuggets the night before] only to arrive with your home literally in flames.  p.s. In tonight's [US EST] press conf, Erik Spoelstra had his 3 kids with him.  Our heart melts for tragedies like this💚💛💜

Just two days earlier, Cebu province in the Philippines was severely hit by floods rising up to the roof levels of two-storey home structures.  Even the hardest souls would have softened WHEN I watched multiple footages of the extreme tragedies, including one footage I watched WHEREIN a husband was giving a CPR [Cardiopulmonary Resuscitation] to his [almost lifeless] wife atop the roof of their submerged house even WHILE torrential rains were still raging alongside the furious winds of the typhoon.  WHOSE hardened heart will NOT soften and melt with all these tragedies?  And this brings us to that dire need for us to hone our RESILIENCE so that we can be led back to RECOVERY!!!

Given all these harsh realities of life, it behooves that we choose to see these setbacks in life as our learning opportunities instead of looking at it as something that will kick us back to square one.  Taking the shame and blame out of a setback supports us to hold onto hope and see that hard experience as a teacher.  And part of healing is allowiing ourselves to feel all our feelings, including those incessant pains❎❎❎

Our takeaway:  It is NOT sufficient to recognize the bumps we hit on the roads we travel BUT we gotta remember it as part of the process.  And WHEN we believe this, we can get back up more easily.  YES, RESILIENCE is our ability to bounce back after an adversity.  RESILIENCE building supports us to manage adversity.  In fact, going through it can reinforce our RESILIENCE.  And like strengthening our muscles, that will help to lead us back towards that road to RECOVERY💚💛💜

Stop Skimming, Can We?

 

Per se, SKIMMING is neither bad nor wrong.  BUT WHAT IF we get used so much to eat and as part of our habit formation, it becomes embedded deep within you.  Oh Oh, that's the thread we'd like to tackle today.  BTW, more for context, with SKIMMING, we're NOT just referring to SKIMMING reading materials.  Instead, we'd like to dissect our tendencies for SKIMMING even in our manifestations in our every day life.  SKIMMING comes in different forms & shapes LIKE:

• WHEN your partner alerts you, you simply shrug it off
• WHEN there's a brewing problem, we DON'T focus on it
• WHEN your manager guides you, all you give is lip service

In our daily life, HOW often did we witness someone in either a dire OR critical situation.  And YET, all you observed was that person SKIMMING through the situation.  WHEN we are at the workplace, even as managers, gone are the days WHEN we were LIKE in a swivel chair role, signing off documents and hosting meetings.  Instead, even as a manager today, one is expected to deep dive way beyond just SKIMMING through the situation.  WHETHER I was into operations OR project work, we should go beyond 'motherhood statements', way beyond general ideas.  In concrete terms, instead of just grasping the main points, graps the messaging content💚💛💜

Looking back, WHEN I was bouncing from task to task, thought to thought, calendar INVITE to the next INVITE, sometimes I just had enough contact with each moment to trigger that ripple effect, BUT at times, never long enough to sink.  YES, there's a thrill to it, once we deep dive.  Before we know it, momentum can feel like a purpose.  Busyness can feel like 'aliveness'.  WHY?  Because I can attest that WHEN we are in constant motion in deep-diving into situations, time fleets before you know it💥💥💥

YES, I can attest to that experience happening over and over again.  LIKE WHEN you're moving down deep in your task OR activity, you DON'T and WON'T have to feel too much.  You WON'T even notice the ache in your chest.  That unspoken question hovering beneath your smile.  And the way your body's been whispering for stillness.  On the other hand, swinging back, if we're just SKIMMING the surface, we would hardly and barely touch the depths WHICH we should go farther down.  And I firmly believe that, that's the point.   Psychologists did research on that 'SKIPPING STONE' and unearthed something that's quite a surprise if NOT troubling😡😡😡

Our takeaway:  I grabbed this poster because it speaks volumes.  That WHAT IF really resonates because that was the same BIG ASK many times in the past WHEN I questioned myself.  WHAT IF all along, we're wrong with our own understanding, OR even call it hypothesis because my take here is that 'skipping stone' is, in many ways, quite our survival strategy, a form of distraction, sort of and at the same time, seemingly an energetic way to stay in motion so we DON'T have to meet WHAT waits in that 'stillness'.  Because WHEN we stop, we're left with just us, our breath, our longing, our pain, our own essence, that quiet hum of a self that wants to be met.  YES dude, can we STOP SKIMMING???

Take Your Pick, Elevators OR Stairs?

 

Take your pick, Elevator versus stairs?  Surely, it's hands down ELEVATOR!  BUT to preempt confusion, we'll NOT waste time talking about ELEVATORS and stairs.  Instead, the analogy we're trying to draw out here is pegging AI [a.k.a. artificial intelligence] to ELEVATORS and human thinking to stairs.  YES dude, we've all seen the headlines about AI, both the good and the bad.  Regardless of WHAT you think of the risks of AI, no one can dispute that AI is here to stay [and for the cynics, we can bid them adieu]📗📙📘

BUT let's face it, even for many of us WHO are excited about AI can ask with unison:  WHAT'S IN IT FOR US?  For alignment, allow me to quote the standard AI definition, i.e. that branch of computer science dedicated to creating computers and programs that can replicate human thinking.  That's WHERE we're pegging AI to ELEVATORs and human thinking to the conventional stairs💧💧💧

True, some AI programs can learn from their past by analyzing complex sets of data and improve their performance without the help of humans to refine their programming.  To quote English poet Alexander Poet, "TO ERR IS HUMAN", so this is really the very first upside AI gives us as it drastically decreases HUMAN ERROR as well as that risk to us humans [and we all agree, everyone makes mistakes]💚💛💜

And that's NOT always a bad thing though BUT WHEN it comes to producing consistent results, it certainly can be.  Those "AI agents', especially the repetitive ones can prevent HUMAN ERROR from tainting an otherwise perfectly useful product OR service.  Similarly, using AI to completely particularly difficult OR dangerous tasks can help prevent the risk of injury OR harm to humans, like AI taking risks in place of humans would be robots being used instead💥💥💥

Our takeaway:  Please DON'T get me wrong, I am all for AI BUT here's my qualifier.  Let us NOT allow AI to take over the reins of our human decision-making where our human perspectives are simply irreplaceable.  True, the ELEVATOR offers us all the effortless comfort BUT how about we take the stairs???

Pulling Yourself Out From That PIT

 

Bonus question:  Have you been down there in a PIT?  Absolutely, everyone has been there.  The bigger question is, HOW MANY TIMES have you been down there in a PIT? I'll raise my hand.  Been there donkey times and it was NO FUN BUT as it is indemically and intrisically part of life, I've always accepted it BUT beyond accepting it hook, line and sinker, I always asked myself these questions:

• WHAT pushed me down there deep into that so-obscure PIT?
• COULD I have pre-empted OR avoided being pushed down there?
• WHAT are its ramifications, consequences, implications direct to me?
• HOW can I proactively avoid it recurring [unless it's a force majeure]?
• WHAT lesson learnt I can benefit from the debacle so it doesn't recur

Looking back through our years, have you ever had a season that just 'wiped' you out?  YES, you want to feel happy BUT for some reason you just CAN'T.  Then you end up rolling in and rollling out of bed thinking how 'yucky' your life is and then you wake up in the morning dreading yet another BAD day about to unfurl and unfold.  YES, verily true, depression is a real damn downer.  It really is such an energy zapper no less, sometimes even making everyday tasks that difficult to accomplish.  The severely depressed have a difficult time getting and gathering that gumption to shower OR even cook a meal and eat💥💥💥

BUT dude, here's a glimmer of hope for us all.  The GOOD NEWS is that you DON'T have to allow that depression to completely rule [and even ruin] your life.  You may have a day OR two of those bluish of the blues [hey, everyone of us is entitled to those] BUT depression and darkness do NOT have to be your reality for weeks, months or worse, years.  YES, by all means, see your doctor if ever you tried to beat your depression BUT CAN'T.  So, the bugging question is:  WHAT ELSE CAN WE DO😌😌😌

HOW did I extricate myself out of that PIT countless times?  Nothing fancy, I simply did the most obvious steps LIKE:

• LIKE I started to consider exercising because by committing to that regimen, my mood elevated straight away.  To quote the experts, WHEN we exercise, our bodies produce a chemical that makes us feel more pleasant.  BTW, exercising need NOT even be strenous.  
• LIKE acquiring my supportive network.  If you communicate your problems to a person you trust, you would feel better after sharing your situation.  
• LIKE changing your eating habits because it is so easy to get caught up with unhealthy food and this is the last complication we want to happen

Our takeaway:  IF there is one sage advice I can peddle proudly out here, DON'T GIVE UP and just NEVER GIVE UP regardless of the severity OR depth of that PIT you're finding yourself.  And YES, DON'T PANIC because WHAT you need to do next is gather yourself, gather your thoughts and revisit everything including staring head-on on those humps you still need to get over with.  YES, your fuel gauge may show you're running EMPTY but in reality, there's a buffer down there, enough for a few more laps.  JUST PULL YOURSELF OUT FROM THAT PIT, ASAP❗❗❗