Escaping the O-Zone

The O-Zone is the Oblivious Zone. That's the place where we're stuck in our heads or have our full attention focused only on what's immediately in front of us (phone screen, concert, movie, conversation we're having at a restaurant or bar) and we're giving no thought to what's going on around us. It's the "head in the clouds" attitude where one minute we can be having a very fine day and the next have our lives turned upside down . . . or worse. The O-Zone is where predators find their prey. The cool thing is, we occasionally get a nudge that lets us know something bad could be just about to happen. We spot a van with tinted windows parked next to our vehicle in the empty parking garage. A knock at our door presents a guy from the gas company who isn't wearing a uniform and has no ID but wants to inspect the furnace. That drink the sexy stranger at the club bought us tastes funny. That popping sound from down the hall. But . . . the warnings aren't always that obvious. Sometimes they're so subtle they can easily go unnoticed while we're doing something else. The local news is full of stories of folks who walk into danger, get a purse wallet or car stolen, get knocked on the head or shot and then are quoted afterward as saying "I don't know why I didn't see that coming." If they are fortunate enough to have an afterward. Our trouble alerts come from the subconscious, an on-board mini-computer that picks up and interprets all sorts of micro-data, bundling and assessing and forming it into our intuition or what some call our "sixth sense." If you practice defensive driving, you're paying attention to your intuition. Similarly, if you know your kid didn't do his homework...or brush his teeth...or is hiding something more serious from you...that's your intuition speaking. But . . . if data to that intuitive warning system is blocked because you're not paying attention to your surroundings, you may not get that alert. Escaping the O-Zone teaches tactics to help recognize trouble-in-the-making. And how to size up a situation so as to be ready to react if trouble develops.