Condition White

I went to my second MOPS 'meeting' this morning. It was nice. I actually had pretty much everything ready the night before, and we got through the busy morning without any tears. That's always a good thing.

Today was 'Safety Day' for my MOPS group. It was kind of cool...we had a police officer speak to us (the moms), and there were some firefighters speaking to the 3, 4, and 5 year olds. They also had a police car for the kids to check out firsthand.

The policeman that spoke to us was there to go over various safety concerns with us. Driving safety, public safety, and just overall awareness.

He had some really good stuff to say, but what peaked my interest most was what he had to say about our awareness. There are different levels, or states.

Condition White -state in which you are awake and functioning, going about your daily business. But you're not really there...you're tired, you're thinking about what needs to be done, and your plans for later in the day. You're not completely aware of everything that is going on around you.

Condition Yellow -is the state in which you are aware. Hopefully this is the state you are in while driving, or while engaged in potentially dangerous activities. You're not thinking about other things, you're completely there in your surroundings. Aware.

Conditions Orange and Red- He didn't really go into these, so I don't know the difference. They're basically states in which you take action. Since they are pertaining to safety, these are the states that you're in if you're in an accident, or are being attacked. If there is an emergency, and your heart is pumping.

If you are in Condition White, then you won't be able to jump to Conditions Orange or Red very easily. Since your brain isn't really engaged in your surroundings, it takes a bit for it to catch up. You weren't expecting something to happen, since you were thinking about something else, so you're caught off guard. A good example of this is if you're driving while tired- your reaction time is considerably slowed.

I've been thinking a lot about this today. How much of my life do I live in Condition White? How many times am I not really there with my husband or children because I'm busy thinking about what kind of house we're going to buy, or what I'm going to make for dinner that night?

How many times have I not had the reaction that I should have had, because my mind is somewhere else? Maybe I'm thinking about something random, and Becca does something that looks like it might be dangerous. Since my mind wasn't aware, I don't assess the situation accurately. I usually overreact, and scare Becca. If I was aware of what she was really doing, I probably would have been able to react much more calmly.

If I'm living my life in Condition White, then I'm not prepared for the attacks the enemy throws at me. I'm not prepared to respond the way that is needed, and I get bogged down in the ugliness that results.

So my goal for the rest of this week is this: I will try to live in Condition Yellow. (Maybe I'll call it Condition Sunshine, just to be goofy). I will try to be aware of what is going on around me. I will try to be aware of the needs behind the little hands pulling on my pant legs. I will try to be aware of the hurt in a friends' voice. I will try to be aware of the beautiful orange, yellow and red leaves that make up the skyline.

After all, I want to be safe.