Keeping One's Head Out of One's Posterior

I went for a bike ride today and nearly got hit by a car. I wasn’t thinking ahead.

I assumed the car was going to stop. It not only didn’t, but speeded up, as though going faster meant it wouldn’t be in the intersection long enough for a cop to see the violation.

I didn’t anticipate. Fortunately, I have good brakes and, at the last moment, I spotted the warning signs.

How often do we assume things to be true when they really aren’t?

I’m okay walking down this street after dark because I’ve done it twenty, thirty, one-hundred times before. I don’t lock my doors because I live in a safe neighborhood. I’ll get into an elevator with someone who my intuition tells me might be dangerous because it’s too embarrassing not to do so. Cars always stop at stop signs.

Gavin deBecker, the author of The Gift of Fear trilogy and an international expert in the prediction of violence, believes we should listen to our intuition, our gut feeling, our instinct:

“The truth is that every thought is preceded by a perception, every impulse is preceded by a thought, every action is preceded by an impulse, and man is not so private a being that his behavior is unseen, his patterns undetectable.”

We all have intuition. Some of us are better at paying attention to it than others. Unfortunately, as deBecker points out, some understand what their instinct was trying to tell them only after something happens. The point is to be open to not only hearing that little warning voice in our heads, but heeding its advice.

Perhaps Jeff Cooper’s color code system can help. Cooper was the father of what’s called the “Modern Technique” of shooting a handgun but you don’t need to own a weapon to give your instincts a regular workout.

Cooper’s system of four color codes of mental awareness (which have nothing to do with the Homeland Security defense codes) is explained thus:

1. White: Relaxed, unaware and unprepared. Basically you have your head up your butt and have no idea danger is approaching until you’ve already been overwhelmed.
   
2. Yellow: Relaxed alertness. As Cooper puts it, “Your mindset is, ‘today could be the day I may have to defend myself.’” Your head is up, your posture says you’re alert and you’re using your eyes and ears to actively observe the world around you. You are prepared to take action if necessary.


3. Orange: Specific alert. You’re noticing something wrong in your immediate environment. A person looks suspicious. A noise gets your attention. A van is parked too close to yours in the parking lot late at night. Someone is glancing at your child in the park a little too often. It’s the middle of summer and a customer in the back of the convenience store is wearing a coat.


4. Red: Fight trigger. You’re thinking, “If x happens, I will do y.” You have already prepared yourself to react, whether to step closer to your child, avoid going to your car in that dark parking lot, or even to scream and be ready to fight off an assailant.

Many of us spend our lives in White. I sure was in it on my bike today! We know the world can be a nasty place but we assume our world is safe. Sometimes we take it a step further, figuring not only our world is safe but, if things suddenly change, there are people who will take care of us should danger approach.

Anyone who has been the victim of a crime will tell you that assumption is false.

I’ll offer some thoughts about moving from White to Yellow tomorrow.