Safety & Awareness - From Executives to Stay At Home Parents
Safety & Awareness
For those of us who travel for business, working late in the office, or running errands, safety and awareness is a critical topic. A question came up from one of my alumni groups regarding a “sixth” sense, of being able to sense danger. I’m a big fan of Steven Seagal and happened to watch one episode where he talks about his extensive marital art experience allowing him to sense danger and threats. I thought about that and realized the “sense” was not a mystical intangible, but a product of years of training that ingrains a heightened sense of awareness, looking for dangers and threats. Specifically, looking for obvious things like who fits in, who doesn’t. The attire, attitude, body position, language, tone of voice, eye contact, surrounding people, all factors that are taken in by our senses in a matter of seconds, to develop an awareness of the situation, people, and environment. This is a direct result of developing and training our minds to review, assess, and react. By consistently practicing these thoughts and behavior patterns, it becomes second nature. To the untrained eye, it may even be perceived as paranormal, an intangible if you will.
As an example, I am always aware of my surroundings, what is there, who is there, how many, what they’re doing, etc. It may sound like a great deal of effort but don’t underestimate the power of our minds in processing millions of bits of information simultaneously. We are all capable of doing it. It’s a matter of practice. What one does routinely, will likely dictate one’s actions going forward. If one practices awareness and sensitivity, that will become our response. If one does not, the senses are not developed and akin to muscle atrophy. Our minds are the same in that consistent behaviors will become ingrained in our thought process and actions.
On a personal level, I practice this consistently to reinforce what I already know. I’m no different than any other person and if I don’t practice it, my senses will decay as easily as the next person. When I pull into a parking lot, I assess where I’m going to park. Are there any vehicles that could be potential threats, vans, tinted windows, cars that don’t fit in, is someone sitting in the car when it is boiling hot, are people loitering around that area, all taken in within seconds. I practice this as much as I can, and really, it does not take much effort in doing so. I’d much rather have spent a few seconds doing this than fumbling for belongings and digging down beneath the seats and being robbed or having something worse happen. I believe it’s a small price to pay. At the same time, one doesn’t want to be hyper vigilant to the point of being paranoid. Being aware and being paranoid are two very different states of being. The first gives one control, the latter gives the emotion control over our actions.
Another example in Sin City, with my children… We stayed in a nicer part of town and went to Circus Circus at night. Not the best part of the strip and while we parked and started making our way to the elevators, I held my sons back as they started to walk blindly around a tight corner to the elevator AND pulled them back from the elevator doors rather than standing right in front of it. Walking tightly around a blind corner limits not only your field of vision but response time should there be a need. Standing directly in front of the elevator doors leaves little room for movement to escape or respond to threats that may be behind the elevator door. I realized at that point, wow, this is just second nature to me but the boys have never had to think of being in a not so good part of town and the realities therein.
Hopefully this gives some insight into training oneself to practice safety and awareness at all times. Another great question came up on “how do you harness this … when you’re tired, jet lag…”. The answer is practice, practice, and practice. Consistent practice facilitates behavior that can be performed under stress situations. When response and action are a natural part of one’s state of being, fatigue and other external factors which could otherwise impair judgment and action, are much less likely to do so.
These changes aren’t going to happen overnight, but consistently practicing them will eventually lead one to where it does become second nature, a “sixth” sense. Try it out and you’ll be amazed at what you’ve been missing and pleasantly surprised with things you might otherwise not have noticed.
With that said, what do you feel is the most important aspect of self defense, awareness, prevention, self defense techniques?
