Have you ever considered just how much sound we have around us at all times?

Think about it.  You start off your day with that darn blaring alarm-clock, the cat and/or dog making their animal pleas for food, the gurgling of the automatic coffee-maker brewing your liquid energy, and the swish of the water from the shower attempting to beat the sleepiness out of you.

And that’s all in the first 15 minutes! 

Moving on.

You rummage through your closet; hangers being thrust to and fro, clothes being tossed about like a kleenex in a hurricane, as you decide on something to wear. 

Once accomplished, you shuffle down the hall to the kitchen; bunny slippers snapping time, as you grab a bowl from the cabinet, slamming the door with your shoulder; snag a cup of coffee and plunk a clean spoon retrieved from the dish drain with a clank down into your bowl. You grab the box on the counter and open the cardboard flaps,un-crinkle the waxy bag to pour your favorite “nuttin’ but sugar" cereal that’s been left from last night's mid-night snack.

Plopping down on the sofa cross legged, you turn on the TV to listen to your trusty news anchor tell you want you can anticipate for your daily commute.  Finishing your cereal and coffee you pause for a moment to listen to the perky weather girl tell you why that wool sweater wasn’t such a good choice after all before rising to do your hair and make-up.

As the hair dryer screams, you turn on the radio – loud to hear over the dryer – and with one hand you attempt to respond to a text or two from your friends and, with the other dry your hair.

Suddenly something catches your eye. As you look up, there standing in your bedroom doorway is a man - holding a gun. Panicked you wonder how he could have possibly gotten into your house without you hearing him. 

The answer?

Noise.

Noise is a distraction. It shouldn’t be for a prepper, but it is for some.

Tuning out noise out takes practice. 

Our auditory system (ears to brain), don’t work in harmony as well as say our eyes and brain. In fact it finds it hard to separate noise from information. 

As we saw above, noise can consume so much brain function that it makes it impossible to think about what is happening around you.

An intruder not only made it into the house but down the hall and to the bedroom without being detected.  That’s a scary thought.

We need to understand, we no longer live in a safe world.  In order to protect ourselves we need to develop better situational awareness.

For those who don’t understand what situation awareness is, it is being aware of what is happening around you to understand how information, events, and your own actions will impact your goals and objectives, both now and in the near future.

Huh?  I know, right?  How about this – it is being aware of our surroundings as to sight, sound, smell – well actually to all of our senses.  Knowing what is happening around us with the use of our senses and reacting accordingly.

Just as with all the numerous other things we practice in our survival preps, we must practice situational awareness as well.

So how do you minimize the noise in our lives?  Well first, you might want to stop texting all the time (ouch!)  ‘What does thaaatttt have to do with noise?’ You whine. Think about it. How are we alerted to a text? We hear a little chime or buzz, right?  Then almost instantly our heads are jerked down as if by magnetic pull, our eyes scanning the screen like a speed reader and our thumbs feeling around on the keyboard like a person trying to find something in the dark - oblivious to what is going on around us.

Next. If you can’t hear your radio and/or TV at normal level while doing other things, turn it off.

Also, learn to understand what sounds are normal and what are not.  Again this is a practiced skill.

You immediately know the sounds of the clock alarm and the brewing coffee, but what about that thump out in your backyard?  The neighbor’s dog barking?  Your cat’s ears perked-up?  All signs and sounds that ‘should have’ alerted you that something wasn’t right in the world.

Learn to reduce noise in your life so you are more aware of what is happening around you. 

Situational awareness (SA) will be a major skill if and when the poo-hits-the-fan. Learn it.

Shhhh.  What was that noise?

Just kidding. Wanted to see if you were listening.

Just sayin’

- Survivor Jane

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