Unless you grow up with “street-smarts” it’s difficult to ever acquire this kind of awareness. Unless you have actually been in dangerous, real life situations your body just will not react from book-learning alone. I suppose you can train yourself....or be trained, but there’s no substitute for experience.
I’ve always been this way, there are reasons for that.
It is sometimes frustrating when my companions aren’t, or take ages (really probably seconds) to respond when I’m trying to wake them up to something that’s happening around us.
One that is safe to relate: Took my ex to the Highland Games one year. She’s recovering from some really awful physical trauma, so I’m in bodyguard-mode.
We’re watching the caber-toss. One of the ‘tossers’ had his caber getting away from him, and coming right for her. I’m telling her ‘up-up-up-move-move-move’ and tugging at her arm. She can’t see it coming. How can she not see this happening? She didn’t budge and slowly looked at me with puzzlement. I gave up, stood, turned and arched my body over hers with my hands clasped behind my skull to protect it from the impact.
It missed us thankfully, but not by much. The tosser saw it happening too, and worked to deflect it from us I think.
The episode took *forever*. It was really only a matter of a few seconds. Time gets all weird at times like that.
I disagree with it being difficult to learn.
People just have to apply a little observation.
Take departing a Mall after dark. Most people walk out the doors, start walking trough the parking lot looking at their phone, looking for keys, trying to remember where they parked and trying to weave through the cars.
As they unlock the car door - “out of nowhere” - someone grabs their purse or stuffs them in the car and kidnaps them.
How hard is it to step out the doors, step to the side and do a quick visual scan of the parking lot and note the people in it. This very slight pause also checks to see if anyone comes out behind you. As you start through the parking lot does and individuals start to walk an intercept course to you.
Have the same set of lights been following you since you left the Mall, following you into your subdivision and onto your street?
Most people don’t take the time to learn this stuff because the individual threat level is low - until your number comes up.
One way to train yourself to see things is to use dresser drawer.
Empty drawer- have someone put ordinary items in drawer one layer in depth.
Close drawer, open drawer look at items for 30 seconds close drawer.
Describe placement of descrition of items.
First couple times is difficult, keep practicing, after awhile you will be able to describe items and placement without thinking.
Another way is to look at town street same way 30 seconds turn around, name cars parked,colors makes, describe people on street.
Again after some practice t becomes second nature.
Best thing is to trust your inner voice, many times the subconscious registers danger, when conscious mind does not.
Exercise to increase your awareness:
Need a partner to work with you on this. Get some cardboard stock and create a bi-fold with a series of numbers on it. Start with 20 and increase to (eventually) 100.
Partner A takes the bi-fold cards and goes on a walk through the neighborhood. Partner A places the bi-fold around the neighborhood on or at an interesting item. It could be a crack in the sidewalk, an unusually colored rock, a house number, etc. Partner A then writes down the “item”.
Partner B then follows after a few min and at a normal walking pace, without any writing aids, makes a mental note of each bi-fold card and what was interesting about that number. At most, they are allowed to walk around the item ONCE, but then must move on. Partners C, D, E (others) can do likewise if this is an exercise for a group.
At the end, Partner A re-walks the route and picks up the bi-fold cards. Also, the others then write down from memory, without consulting the others, what was interesting about each number.
Helps to improve focus, memory and powers of observation.