The real quality you'll need will get you laughed at by your peers for being "jumpy". Its the preset instinct to pull your pistol and fight when surprised and under threat. It's knowing both consciously and subconsciously that there is no "flight" possible so "fight" is the response you've trained for on the range, but also as you lie in bed. Forget perfect scenarios, you're thinking about the worst: You think, "It will be terrible, horrifying, and there is no escape. Draw, shoot, repeat. FIGHT! With gun, or knife or fist if need be, but fight!". Repeat this thought over and over until one day the rustle in the bushes makes your pistol appear in your hand as if by magic, and then, guts shot through with fear, your response is to face the threat squarely, knowing your life is already forfeit, and think "come on you S.O.B!".
You can't say when you've reached that point, and neither will anyone else know, but one day the brush will rustle...and you'll know you were ready. You can gain it, and you can lose it.
You can't say when you've reached that point, and neither will anyone else know, but one day the brush will rustle...and you'll know you were ready. You can gain it, and you can lose it.