I have a confession to make.  And after my last post on the 13 Deadly Sins of Fitness this seems to be becoming a theme!

Here goes… sometimes I let my situational awareness slip and find myself in a position where a person with bad intentions could take advantage.  Ever happen to you?

Let me back up a little bit and tell you what brought this confession about.  This morning as I sat in my car beside the pump at a busy gas station waiting for the attendant to come over and fill up the tank (yes, there is no self-service in NJ!), I sort of drifted.  It seemed to take forever for the guy to come over to the car so I let my attention wander while I was waiting.  As I was lost in my thoughts about the million and a half things going on in my life, I was suddenly startled out of my reverie by the attendant at the window asking if he could help me.  I flinched slightly (think I covered it up pretty well), and then told him to please fill up the tank with regular.

As he walked away to gas up my car, it occurred to me – he coulda killed me!  I was completely not paying attention and did not even notice him amble up to my car window.  Had he been a bad guy (insert your own bad guy of choice here), I would have been in serious doo-doo (yes, that’s a technical term).

Not only was I embarrassed that he startled me, but I was pissed at my own lack of vigilance .  I usually pride myself on my awareness skills and rarely, if ever, do people sneak up on me.  But rather than chalking it up as just “one of those things” I figured I would write about it as a lesson, not just for you guys, but for me as well.

So what is the moral of the story?  As I tell all my martial arts students and the women in my Women’s Self Defense workshops….

A.I.F!

Awareness is Fundamental.  This is the basic requirement to keep yourself and those around you safe from harm.  Yes, I probably could have beaten up the gas station attendant had he attacked me, but that’s not the point.  The best way to stay safe is to be aware enough to avoid a potentially bad situation to begin with.  So, here’s your homework (and mine!):

When you are out in public, whether it’s at work, at school, in a mall, walking in a park or down a busy street, or – GASP – at a gas station waiting at the pump, you must keep your awareness up.

How do you do this?

1) Look around!  Keep your head and eyes scanning the environment.  Use wide angle vision.

2) Do not fixate all your attention on one task, especially if it takes your eyes off the environment around you.  Look up every once in a while and note the position of people in your general vicinity.  As I am writing this post I am sitting in a Panera nursing a delicious cup of dark roast coffee.  My eyes are on the computer screen and keyboard, but also scanning around me.

3) Keep your ears open!  Rather than blasting music in your ears with your ipod as you walk, run, or sit in public, keep your ears open and listening around you.

4) Listen to your gut!  If something feels wrong, it probably is.  Do not ignore the hair raising on the back of your neck or the feeling in the pit of your stomach that something is off.  Ever feel like someone is staring at you and when you turn around, they are?  You have the primal ability to know when you are in danger.  Do not disregard this sense, it can save your life!