#1 Survival Skill You Need

When you talk about survival skills people automatically think about how to make a fire, build a shelter, find water, etc. These are definitely some skills that you should learn just in case situations but not the skill I am talking about. At least in my opinion. You know why? Because you won’t always find yourself in these types of situations where you would need the 3 skills mentioned above. Unless the apocalypse happened…

The number #1 skill that EVERYONE should have or cultivate ASAP is AWARENESS. Be aware of your surroundings, the people around you, your environment, the situation, what you are doing, etc…. In this day and age with all the distractions around us, mainly our cellphones, people are constantly in a state of distraction.

This is a skill that you can teach yourself and your loved ones every day. Kids would benefit from this and help give mom and dad peace of mind. Parents you teach your kids this in some aspects. Maybe more. Here are 2 examples:

1. Honey, you have to stop and look both ways before you cross the road. This way you can see if there are any vehicles around.
2. Honey, stranger danger. (this doesn’t work very well, at least for my kids) We moved to “Honey, stay where I can see you. If someone starts talking to you, make sure you stay where I can see you. If they try to take you somewhere SCREAM and RUN.”
3. Honey don’t accept anything from strangers. You have to come and ask me first.

Each child is different, you as a parent would know the best way to explain things to them in a way that they would understand. As my kids get older, they require more in-depth explanations so that they can get a clearer picture of the situation and consequences. As I mentioned in example 2, I used that same phrase because that is what I was taught but have found out that this doesn’t really help. Kids are smart, thinking, growing, LEARNING beings. I found that I have better results when I talk to them and explain things better than just saying something like “stranger, danger”. Inevitably you will get the response that will come with every statement a parent makes. “But why?”

Awareness

Being aware of your surroundings is critical. If you are bad with directions, this would be very helpful to you, because you have hopefully been taking note of some landmarks to help you. If you are driving, this could save your life! Put away your distractions meaning your cellphone. There is no phone call or text message that is worth your life. Don’t put your makeup on while driving…..just don’t. Nothing on the floor beside, in front of, or behind you is important. If you are driving, drive. Utilize your mirrors, and when it is clear look beside you at your blind spots. Practicing being aware of your surroundings while driving can help you avoid accidents by actively looking around you at how people are driving. You might even notice something like a wobbly tire on the car the lane over, or how a truck is swerving a little, or the motorcyclist that is swerving in and out of lanes, the potholes that just appeared, the trash that could damage your vehicle, etc. If you are a motorcyclist, you would need to be even more aware of your surroundings!

Practice actively being aware while you are walking, grocery shopping, going to the atm, etc.

True story: In 2009 while my family and I were stationed in Fort Hood Texas, my husband passed on a message to me that he received during a safety brief. Gang activity was really starting to grow in the area and they wanted to let women know that they needed to be aware of their surroundings when they went grocery shopping especially to the local Walmart. Travel in pairs and lock your doors right away. This was because in order for the new gang member to join he had to kill a female. They would grab them on the way into the store, or while they were distracted putting groceries away in their vehicle.

I remember being so scared to go anywhere for a little bit because I had a toddler and I was pregnant and by myself at the time. Not fun.

*Parents food for thought. When you have young ones is when you are especially vulnerable. Think about it. You focus on putting your child/children in their car seats, with your back completely exposed. Then there is the fact that your vehicle (unless your vehicle unlocks on 1 side for security like the Toyota Sienna) unlocks ALL doors at one time. Then after you have placed your child safely in their car seat, you focus on putting your groceries away in the trunk/back of your vehicle. Lastly, you leave the vehicle to put your cart away. What can you do to better protect yourself and your family? Here are some suggestions:

• Park next to cart return spot in a parking lot, as close to the entrance of the store as possible.
• When leaving the grocery store actively look around you and your vehicle. Discretely pay attention to people around you to see if they are following you, or if there is anyone suspicious lurking around your vehicle.
• If your car doors unlock on all sides, practice opening only the doors you need which are preferably on the same side, then lock all the doors right away.
• While you put your child/children in their car seat, keep scanning around you.
• Close your child’s door and quickly put away groceries while scanning the area, then quickly put away the cart.

The more you practice this, the smoother it will be and the less you feel like something bad is going to happen. Trust me been there done that. I felt like I was going above and beyond, but then I got more comfortable with this and it became second nature. There is nothing wrong with being prepared and being vigilant especially when it involves your family’s safety.

Be aware of the people around you. Every day, especially if you are working outside of the home, you are around a lot of people. Going to lunch, shopping, partying, watching a movie, etc. you are around a lot of people. You don’t know these people, and anything could happen. As a parent, you have to be especially vigilant because you are splitting your attention between your safety and your child’s. All you have to do is look at the news around the world and see how people were attacked in the most unexpected places. Not all situations could have been avoided, but if more people were paying attention and aware of those around them, the damage/casualties might have been reduced. The biggest lesson to take away from here is that you need to open your eyes to the potential danger around you. It is better to be safe than sorry in the end.

Practice being situationally aware. Everyday, everybody, everywhere is different. When you have become actively more aware of the people around you and your surroundings you start being more situationally aware. You will be amazed at the things that you notice and the insights you develop. You might notice for example, that the window you have been walking under for the last 2 years has a window unit that is balancing precariously on the edge. You start avoiding this, and when you walk by, point this out to others who walk there. A week later when you take your usual walk you see that the unit has fallen out and that luckily nobody was hurt because they had also been made aware of this.

There are so many examples of how being situationally aware can help you, I can’t emphasize enough how critical it is for EVERYONE to cultivate this skill. Here are more examples:

1. You notice that your route to and from work is getting more congested, so you find an alternate route.
2. You check the weather and see that a big storm is coming in even though it is bright and sunny outside. You bring your rain gear just in case.
3. You had a bad feeling at a park with your children the other day and decide you don’t want to take them there today. You find out on the news that someone was arrested the next day because they tried to kidnap someone else’s child.
4. While working overseas, you notice that the political situation is starting to get violent. You have your family packed and ready to go within the hour and decide to leave right away. The next day you find out that the government collapsed. (extreme example)

I cannot emphasize enough how important situational awareness is especially now with all the little electronics we have and the constant dependency we have on our cellphones. Here is a list of questions I want you to ask yourself. If you answer yes to any of these especially if you can relate to more than one, then you definitely need to practice situational awareness.

1. Do you look down while walking in public?
2. Do you text and walk? Often?
3. Do you walk while talking on your phone?
4. Do you get absorbed by conversations?
5. Do you walk with headphones on and just ‘zone out’ on your music?
6. Do you cross the street immediately when the light turns green?
7. Do you run with headphones on? If so, do you pay attention to the people and your surroundings or just on your run?
8. When shopping, do you even notice people around you?
9. When driving, are you attuned to your cellphone?
10. At the ATM, do you just step up to the machine with your back to everyone?
11. When someone knocks on your door, do you just open the door?
12. Etc.

There are many more examples that I could give but I am sure that you get the picture. I hope that this post was helpful to you. If you have anything that you want me to discuss in my future posts, please feel free to leave a comment below.