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A Community Outreach Program
Sponsored by Dignity Memorial
1-800-DIGNITY
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Common Sense - The Ultimate Defense
Crime prevention and personal safety are matters of making common sense choices. Common sense is far more effective and powerful than a handgun, pepper spray, an expensive alarm system or a black belt in martial arts. Smart choices pave the way from potential danger to safety.
The ability to make smart, informed choices is a hallmark of your generation, more than any other. Although there are a lot of things that change as we progressively grow older, the ability to make smart choices is one that actually improves with age. The more life experience we gain, the better our ability to make smart choices. Since smart choices are the number one resource in crime prevention and personal safety, this actually means that as one grows older, the ability to improve your safety factor increases.
That's good news!
The bad news is that a lot of people don't realize this and consequently grow reluctant to trust their instincts, failing to fine-tune their ability to choose. A lifestyle of vulnerability develops out of this kind of misguided thinking and when people think of themselves as vulnerable and weak, they become so. Bad guys are attracted to this kind of thinking.
For instance, a person that is scared and paranoid to go for a walk, for fear of being mugged, goes to great lengths to stay at home as much as possible even when he is urged by friends and family to step out into the sunshine. Then, one day, he is forced to venture outside for one reason or another and sure enough, true to his greatest fear he gets mugged or assaulted.
Why is this a very common tale?
Was the scared person just proven right that he should have never stepped out in the first place? Not really. His mannerisms, body language and the look on his face are irresistible to a bad guy. Criminals are students of human nature. They know how to read the signals we send. When they see someone who is sending out signs of fear, as opposed to someone who appears self-confident and aware, the scared person gets the nod. A scared person always makes the best target. Oftentimes, fear is irrational, driven by biased news reporting designed to sell advertising. If people listen to too many of these news stories, it can have a potentially devastating effect on their lives.
A true statement, from which we can all benefit, comes from the world of computer programming, "Garbage in, Garbage out!" In other words, be very careful what you listen to and more careful what you believe. Your perception of the world you live in has a direct bearing on your personal safety because it affects your level of self-confidence and feeling of well being. Nothing is more important to personal safety than smart, common sense choices. In order to make the right choices to avoid or even escape from potential danger, you have to have confidence in your ability to make these important choices.
Printable Version
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