COLOR CODE OF MENTAL AWARENESS
Part ll
By Joey “Chief” Rubio

In my last article I talked about the first two colors of The Color Code of Mental Awareness, White and Yellow.  White is being in a state of inattention with your head in the clouds, while Yellow is relaxed but alert, ready to react.  You’re aware of your surroundings and you’re using all your senses to warn you of anything out of the norm. Now as you walk down the street your scan picks up a reflection in a store window of two guys staring at you.  You walk to your car and coincidentally, they get into theirs.  As you pull out they pull out behind you.  You’re in condition Yellow, now you go to Orange.

In condition Orange, you need to do two things.  Make some evasive maneuver and start planning on what your tactical plan will be if they are a real theat.  So step one, you make a right turn and they follow.  After two more right hand turns they’re still behind you.  Ok, they’re definitely following you and you can be pretty sure that they’re not just watching your back.  Now it’s time for step two.  Make a tactical plan.  So what are you going to do?  Here’s one plan.  First, remain on main highly traveled streets.  Start driving towards the nearest police or sheriff’s station.  Keep good spacing between you and the car in front of you, you don’t want to let them box you in.  Plan an escape route incase they get out of the car or bump your car.  At the next corner the light turns red and the car in front of you stops.  You leave turning room between you and the car in front when suddenly you’re rear ended.  You look in the mirror and you see them getting out of the car with guns in their hands coming towards you.  You turn onto the sidewalk and drive away leaving them with a stupid look on their faces, wondering what just happened.  The Color Code of Mental Awareness probably just saved your life.

So what would that scenario look like in condition White?  Suddenly you’re hit from behind.  You grab your neck and think, what the …. is going on?  The next thing you know, you’re staring down the working end of a .45 and some guy is yelling, “Get out of the car!  Move!  But you can’t because you’re frozen by fear and can’t move like a deer in the headlights.  Very often these people get shot, not because they’re resisting, but because their not following the orders of the assailant.

That’s the difference between being in White and being in Yellow, seeing a threat, and ramping up to Orange, making an evasive move and coming up with a tactical plan.

Our next level of Awareness is condition Red.  This is the level of mental awareness where you’ve identified a threat as being real.  In condition Red, you have to know when you’re going to react.  Not if you’re going to react, but when.  You’ve drawn a line in the sand that if crossed, you stop being the target and become the aggressor.  By mentally drawing a line in the sand, when the moment comes that you have to do something, you’re not thinking, you’re prepared.  How many times has a friend snuck up on you making you scream, jump, and then how long did it take to realize it was just your friend and not a threat?  And how long were you in that state of confusion?  In a real fight, this is enough time to get you killed before you’re even aware that you’re being attacked.  Being in condition Red, you have set a mental trigger.  If X happens, then I’m doing Y.  In our scenario, when the thugs rear ended your car, you reacted by driving onto the curb and getting away. This brought you to condition Black.  Condition Black is the state of mind that happens when your opponent sets off your mental trigger.  You are no longer in a state of awareness; you are in the Combat Mindset.  It is on, and there are no rules at this point.

I hope this article has brought to mind times when you have been totally vulnerable in possibly dangerous situations.  Don’t be ashamed by this because we’ve all been there, but maybe the next time you come across a situation that may pose a danger to you or those you care for, you’ll have a game plan incase things go bad.  Stay safe out there and stay Yellow!