I frequently read and hear people speculating that firearm owners live in fear that something will happen.
Even on this forum, it's common to see people comment that if someone carries a gun in an area (church, home, bathroom, etc.) that they must be expecting something bad to happen and that sort of expectation is unreasonable or irrational.
From the other side of the house we hear about trainers advocating a constant awareness of one's surroundings. Realistically that kind of constant alert is impossible or at least extremely difficult to attain.
We don't want to live our lives in a state of unpreparedness but neither do we want to go through life constantly expecting something to happen. So where's the midde ground? What's preparedness in moderation?
Very simple. Don't concentrate on what might happen--don't live life expecting that at any moment something bad could happen to you.
Instead, avoid falling into the trap of believing that nothing bad can happen.
Don't expect bad things to happen--just don't allow yourself to become complacent by expecting nothing to happen.
That means you don't have to live on edge and it will also eliminate the delay that many people encounter during a crisis while they work through the typical crisis response: "Is this really happening? This never happens. How could this happen? This can't be happening to me. I never thought this could happen." And finally: "Yes, this really IS happening to me. I need to do something."
Even on this forum, it's common to see people comment that if someone carries a gun in an area (church, home, bathroom, etc.) that they must be expecting something bad to happen and that sort of expectation is unreasonable or irrational.
From the other side of the house we hear about trainers advocating a constant awareness of one's surroundings. Realistically that kind of constant alert is impossible or at least extremely difficult to attain.
We don't want to live our lives in a state of unpreparedness but neither do we want to go through life constantly expecting something to happen. So where's the midde ground? What's preparedness in moderation?
Very simple. Don't concentrate on what might happen--don't live life expecting that at any moment something bad could happen to you.
Instead, avoid falling into the trap of believing that nothing bad can happen.
Don't expect bad things to happen--just don't allow yourself to become complacent by expecting nothing to happen.
That means you don't have to live on edge and it will also eliminate the delay that many people encounter during a crisis while they work through the typical crisis response: "Is this really happening? This never happens. How could this happen? This can't be happening to me. I never thought this could happen." And finally: "Yes, this really IS happening to me. I need to do something."