What if?

What would I do if _____________ happened, right here, right now. You fill in the blank, it could be anything, from walking up upon a crazed animal on the trail, being confronted by a gun wielding thief, someone (a stranger) knocking on your car window at an intersection and you can’t drive away yet, have you left enough room between your car and the car in front that you COULD pull around that car and get away if need be? What if you blew a tire while going highway speeds on the freeway during traffic time, what if you pressed on your brakes and nothing happened… during moments of high stress, in a life or death situation, you don’t have time to think, and in the heat of the moment, you probably will not even be able to think, you just have to react, chances are you have one chance and one chance only, assuming you are able to think about what to do, you had better make the right choice and in a timely manner. Have you ever thought about what you would do in a given situation or are you just living your life from moment to moment with no thought about what you would do in an emergency?

Many years ago, many many years ago, I worked for a fast food taco joint, I typically worked nights, it was just a few miles from my home and where I grew up, I felt very comfortable there, even at night. Even as far back as that was, I practiced something that turned out to be very valuable, in fact if probably saved my life. I would be going along, doing my job and I would run scenarios in my mind, I would play “what if”, I would think to myself, what would I do if the next person who walked through those doors crammed a gun in my face and wanted to rob us? What if the next car that came though the drive thru caught fire (that actually happened once while I was working!). What if the steam table blew, what if the lights went out, what if a water pipe burst, what if a circuit was overloaded and it began to spark or burn…? I would go though all possible scenarios in as many possible combinations as I could think of.

The one that saved my life was the robbery one, one night we were robbed at gunpoint, it was one of the most scariest things I have ever gone though, there is nothing like having a drug crazed maniac waving a very large, very loaded revolver in your face screaming at you to give him all the money. I could have done one of two things, I could have frozen in place, like the other girl who was working with me did, but instead, my “self training” kicked in and I didn’t have to think, I just went into auto pilot and I did all of the right things in spite of the fact that I was terrified, on the very edge of panic and wanted nothing more than to freeze in place, to shut down. Because of the fact that I had gone over multiple scenarios in my mind, over and over, I didn’t have to think about what to do, the robbers got their money and we got out with our lives. I am not blaming the other girl for freezing, it’s a quite natural reaction, I’m also quite sure that if we had both frozen, things might have turned out very differently, the robber had no patience for non-compliant victims, he was angry, in a hurry, very high on something and was in no mood to have to give orders more than once. At one point, he told us to get on the floor, I hit the floor immediately, my co-worker did not, the robber yelled to get on the floor, I reached up and grabbed my co-worker and jerked her down as hard as I could. I didn’t know if we were going to survive the night or not, but we had no where to go, no way to get help and I knew that making this guy more angry was not going to help us survive.

Now I do that with other aspects of my life, while driving I consider what would happen if my brakes fail, right now, what would I do to slow and stop my vehicle, would I even have time to do that, if I had to hit something to stop, what would be the best thing to hit, preferably not another car, preferably something that will do the least damage, something that would give me the best chance of survival. When walking home from my neighbor’s house, what would I do if I came face to face with a feral hog (one of the most dangerous animals out here), or a mountain lion, bear, feral dog, skunk… you name it, I consider my escape routes, up a tree? Into the creek, do I face it down? Am I close enough to home to call out and hope someone hears me?

Here’s what typically happens, an emergency situation pops up, right here, right now, your brain and possibly your body shuts down, you cannot think, you might freeze up, you might even make an incorrect choice that would make the situation worse. The best way to survive an emergency situation is to already have a plan and a backup plan in place, play it out in your mind before it happens, this way your actions are already ingrained in your mind and you no longer have to “think” about what to do, you are much more likely to go into autopilot and get through the situation in much better shape, alive.

I was reminded of this fact this morning, my father is visiting for a month, he has only been here for a few days. Most everything in the skycastle is non-standard, including the stove/oven. My father didn’t want to wake me up, he wanted to make a cup of coffee. Our stove is tricky to use, we actually leave the burner turned on in the front of the stove, we operate the gas from the valve on the tank, otherwise too much gas comes though and things can get nasty, we turn on the gas on the tank and light the fire, when it’s time to turn off the fire, we turn it off at the valve and allow the gas to burn out. My father had forgotten about this, he turned on the gas valve and turned the burner up, then tried to light it, way WAY too much gas was coming through the burner and when he lit it, it became an out of control flame. I heard the blow torch sound and came flying out of bed, I could see the flame shooting up over a foot, and the flame was shooting out the front of the stove around the handle, my father was standing there with a shocked look on his face, I didn’t think, I couldn’t think, my mind was reeling and it was blank at the same time, I reached over and turned off the valve on the tank, the flame immediately went out, this all happened within milliseconds, there was no time to think, action needed to be taken, immediately. Fortunately no one was hurt, the hair on my father’s arm will grow back, no other damage was done. A few seconds of hesitation might have meant losing more than some arm hair.

Now, I’m not perfect at this, there are always more situations that I do not know to consider, but I actively work at playing the “what if” game, so that, hopefully when the real situation occurs, I will be able to take decisive action without having to think, or worse, freezing up, panicking or making the wrong choice.

What are your potential what if situations? Start thinking about them now, what are you most likely to encounter, at home, at work, on the way to and from where ever you travel?  In your car, at school, any place you are on a regular basis. Think about as many possible combinations that could happen and how you would react to each one. This just may save your life. It’s also a good idea to have some things in place to make it possible to survive potential life threatening situations, working fire extinguishers in your home, garage and auto, and be familiar with how to use them. Have an emergency escape tool in your car, one of those multi-purpose tools that will break the windshield or window, cut your seat belt and such, have it in a place where you can reach it and it will not fly out of reach in an accident. Have some old blankets, towels, water, first aid kit in your trunk, ladies have an old pair of sneakers in your car, especially if you go to work in shoes that are not conducive for walking or running (high heels), throw in some rubber gloves, and be sure you have a flashlight that works, check the batteries from time to time, it does no good to have a dead flashlight.

There are many other situations that you can find yourself in, the more prepared you are, physically and just as important, mentally, the more likely it is you will survive. And don’t discount that little voice, you know the one that warns you when something is about to happen, when something just doesn’t feel right, listen to that voice, don’t ignore it, it just may save your life.

I don’t know the percentages, but if you are in a group of people and something happens, something unexpected, most if not all of all those people will do nothing, for many reasons, some will freeze, some will hesitate because they are afraid of doing the wrong thing or looking foolish, don’t be like everyone else, if you are mentally prepared for most situations, you will be more likely to take action and DO SOMETHING, you will not have to think about it, you will be able to break free from the sheeple and do what is necessary to survive, or help others survive. Does that mean you will not experience fear, even terror? Of course you will, it is only natural, the difference will be that fear and/or terror will not take over, you will be in a much better position, mentally to do what is necessary, you will be able to make better decisions when you have already thought out what you could do instead of having to make it up as you go, or worse, do nothing.

You should also play the “what if” game with your family, with your spouse, with your kids, get them into the what if habit, the more people around you who are able to maintain control in a negative situation, the better off everyone will be, the more likely it is that they will survive an emergency situation.