Physical Preparedness 101

At the most basic level of preparedness is your body. How is your hearing? Have you had it tested lately? Do you need hearing aids? Being able to hear well is one of the most basic warning systems the human body has. How is your eyesight? Have you had it tested lately? Do you need glasses? The ability to see what is happening around you is another first line of defense. Smell, taste, and touch are our other senses that warn us about dangers in our immediate area. Keeping your senses as sharp as possible is one of the most basic ways to up your preparedness abilities. This is why tactical shooters practice with shoot/no shoot pop-up targets--it tests their ability to quickly view a scene and make a split second decision. This is why skilled trackers use all of their senses to efficiently track their prey. While you are taking an inventory of your senses, don't forget your sense of intuition. When you talk to people who work on the front lines (cops, soldiers, etc) you will often hear how intuition helped them make the bust or avoid a deadly situation. For more on this often under-rated sense, check out 'The Gift of Fear'.