How do you suppose some people seem to be fearless in situations where you might not be?

I think that some of it is due to what you were exposed to during your early years and how others may have reacted to violence as an example. Were those moments of shock met with action, or retraction by others surrounding you at the time? How were your feelings surrounding that violence dealt with – at a young age?

You can’t train out evolution and biology, but you can train to recognize and respond to those built-in safeguards that we all seem to have. Some may not, or it may be graduated in others,   but it’s not without fault. You WILL be caught off guard, in a way that you haven’t thought of, THEN you will find out if your training worked.

Part of it is EGO – ‘what am I willing to walk away from or respond to?’ I think Marc MacYoung said this, ‘we tell ourselves stories’ – he’s on the money. We all do that. It’s what defines who we are – to ourselves, to our associates, family, friends. So here’s one of my stories, as an example: ‘I believe I will stand and defend during an Active Shooter event’, but I may never be tested, and only then will I know if I was buying into my own story OR if it was flawed.

I think I know what my beliefs and value systems are in the broad sense, right & wrong, and that it falls upon my shoulders to defend the lives of others – without all of the available information.

Often when I respond to a call for assistance, ‘help!’,  I arrive there and I freeze in a very specific way. I am unwilling to commit to hands-on UNTIL I have a better understanding of what has occurred previous to my arrival. That may appear prudent, or may spell disaster. My up-bringing has ‘taught’ me to question things before acting. Is it a ‘freeze’ response, or is it a conditioned STOP sign that I have trained in?

© Copyright 2015 tb 121915