I found myself with sad regret a few days ago as I looked at my, moments before perfect, cell phone full of cracks and little bits of sharp glass. How could this have happened? I knew what had happened, but it happened so quickly that I couldn’t stop it. The damage was so complete I almost couldn’t believe it. There was an instant, after the phone fell from my lap face down on the rough concrete, that I had hope that all would be well; that the consequence of my momentary carelessness would be avoided. However, as soon as I picked it up I knew that I was not so lucky.

You may wonder why I decided to blog about this poor decision. What could it possibly have to do with self protection? The truth of the matter is, that accidents happen. It was my decision to put my phone on my lap. It was my distraction that caused me to forget that it was there. It was my decision that caused me to stand without grabbing it (having forgotten that it was there). None of these decisions were, in and of themselves, “wrong”, but they led to unfortunate consequences. The funny thing is that I almost felt unjustly punished. It seemed “unfair” of the universe to have such an expensive consequence to such a momentary action without meaning any harm. As if I felt only people who do wrong or stupid things on purpose should have negative results. Luckily, these consequences were only expensive, No one was hurt by my distraction. I can live with an ugly phone for a while. However, the experience did remind me that as humans we make mistakes. We lose focus. We forget. The trick is to put so many protections in place in the areas of true danger or vulnerability that we face in our lives, that our families are much less at risk when we do have “human” moments.

Here is an example. In motorcycle riding, an inherently dangerous activity, if a person gets top notch and proper training, practices in safe environments for hours and with those who have done it before, and wears every piece of personal protective gear possible, the risk is greatly reduced. Studies have shown that just wearing a helmet reduced the risk of death and head injury in an accident by 69%. Driving to the grocery store a mile away may seem like an easy time to forgo wearing your gear, but it is only the consistent, dogged adherence to such protections that give them any chance of helping us during those momentary “human” poor decisions we or others make.

So what? What does any of this have to do with me? These same principles are true of self defense. Protections such as safety classes, gear, vigilance, training, and routines for safety, such as checking under your car as you approach, locking doors, keeping you cell handy and charged, etc will only help if they are utilized all the time and in concert. Just buying a gun is not enough, or even very safe, without training and practice. Going to a self defense class once or twice in your life will not cut it. Reading this blog will not really help, sorry. We will not be protected, just because we are good people. Criminals don’t care and have the freedom to act as they choose. It may seem unjust. However, consequences from our momentary poor decision to walk down the darker alleyway shortcut, may not be fair. Only consistency and a layered defense can hope to approach the needed preparation for the danger we may one day face. It only takes a moment. Just a moment.