I often read how one should remain ever vigilant, aware of everything, noticing every aspect and nuance of the surroundings. I am sure that a Zen master can remain at that highest level of awareness, but for the rest of us mortals, that really is difficult to do. Yes, with practice and concentration, it is a skill (or group of skills) that can be developed and increased. Perhaps that means since I have practiced this so long, I am better at it than you are. Great. That means exactly nothing since at any given time both you and I may be equally preoccupied with some part of daily life and not notice something that should have been noticed. In the worst of these situations, people get hurt by walking into traffic, falling or coming into direct contact with some kind of avoidable danger.

The distractions of life are just that – they distract us from what we probably should be seeing and doing. Some of those can be lessened if you are willing to do a few things, with a side benefit of a bit more relaxation as you go about your day. Consider interruptions in any given day that you actually can control, even if you may not realize that you actually have that ability. Why do people automatically stop everything to answer a cell phone? Don’t just let somebody else take your attention and your time. Get the message when you have time to get it. If another driver does something stupid in traffic, work on the ability to completely ignore the idiot. Their action is taking you away from your life and focusing your attention on them (and they surely do not deserve your attention unless they are blatantly threatening you). Give this concept some thought. There are all kinds of things that other people do that take a part of your time. Don’t let them do that unless they truly deserve it. You’ll stay more relaxed, find that you have (at least a bit) more time through the day and that can mean more alertness so that you can indeed avoid potential problems.

Once you are working on those things, of course you’ll still find yourself completely mentally occupied on occasion. Life just works that way. Ever notice how when you are in that state, you suddenly “awaken” to some problem that is right in your face? I do the same thing, but not very often anymore. I think that when we are wandering around in a daze, our own subconscious is still picking up input from our surroundings – and I think that kind of instinctive behavior can be at least recognized if not developed (or felt and acted upon). This innate behavior is happening all the time but most people shut it off. Do the opposite. Try to notice it and then use it. The instinct that you notice is one of self-preservation and if you allow it to communicate with your conscious mind, it can alert you to problems and sometimes give you enough advance notice to get yourself out of potentially fatal situations.

This is not some strange martial arts advice that will take you years to learn. You already have it. Just notice it. Think about what a wolf must feel when moving through a forest. Learn to feel some of that kind of instinctive awareness and you will have a greater chance of staying safe, and you may even see more of the good and relaxing parts of life.