Situational Awareness – An excerpt from the upcoming New Book “Women’s Self Reliance & Emergency Preparedness”
Situational Awareness is the practice of being aware of your environment and the situation you are in at all times. This is not a paranoid, hyper awareness but a little forethought and contemplation about your surroundings. Take some time out and think about where you are live, your neighbors and town. Think about where you go, what the environment is like, what the weather will be and the potential for it to fluctuate? What environment do you find yourself in most? What are the potential hazards of where you are going to be?
Being aware of your surroundings and knowing what your options are in your surroundings is being situational aware.
This is not just about walking down the street and looking around you through mundane, everyday eyes, but its about looking beyond what you accept as daily, normal and only applicable to you. Look into what is really happening right around you and in front of you. Our world is getting smaller, through the vast amount of technological advancements and lightning speed communication. The entire world is your world and what happens in it affects you. Be aware of the world in which you live in; be aware of its strengths and weaknesses. Be aware of its condition and how it impacts your species, your country, your state, your town, your friends, your family and your life. This concept spans the entirety of our lives, from recognizing the facts that you live in a city with 15 million other people within 15 miles of you and the recognition that the grocery stores get food shipped to them. It is grown and produced far away from where you are. Be aware of the political climate, the economic indicators, the weather, the crime rate. Situational awareness requires us to look at life on many levels and in connection with the bigger whole of our world.
It also asks us to look closely at what we have and how we can best utilize what we have at our disposal. One true trait of being self reliant and a survivor is training your self to see opportunity in everyday situations and materials.
Mental Exercise – Imagine an emergency has occurred where you are on Manhattan Island and the grocery stores have been empty for a day or 2 and the bridges are blocked by abandoned cars or by the National Guard. What makes the most sense for your survival? Should you bug out or bug in? Are you going to wait for someone to bring relief and goods? Think about the shear logistics of supplying food and water to 1.6 million people with the power out. Evaluate the risks associated with being in the middle of an emergency in a city. Many 911 survivors and witnesses will tell you that all of Manhattan was in complete chaos.
Exodus not likely. Just being aware of this reality, is crucial to your survival. Preparation is key when there is a limited amount of supplies available at any given time in proximity to you.
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