There have been a few scenarios in my life which make me think that in life or death I get by through sheer survival instincts.
One of them was: One day, I heard my mom scream in the night "HELP!" and I woke up instantly and my brain went into auto mode. I did not think. Everything just happened so fast. I bolted out of my bed and out of my room, unlocked her doorknob with my fingernail and asked her "Are you okay mom?" all within a few seconds. My brother after all of that finally got out of his room looking absolutely groggy and just yelled "MOM" clearly panicked. The difference is my room was down the hallway and my brother was in the room beside hers. She finally said "I'm okay. It was just a nightmare." We both felt relief and went back to sleep. But I was like "wtf was that?" in my head. It's like my superpowers turned on in that moment and I couldn't help but think damn that was pretty cool.
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2 mo
Just to explain what I mean a little more, I meant your instincts in an emergency. Not your knowledge and the way you think in certain scenarios, but how your body responds to fight or flight scenarios, where it could potentially be life or death.
Be honest. Do you believe you have good survival instincts in a life or death situation or do you freeze up and choke under the pressure?
When someone or something falls, I can catch it super quickly.
I am very quick. I have won play fights with my cousins because I was fast and unpredictable.
I have very quick reflexes. I have saved a few stranger children from falling down the escalator or running into the car, when their parents were standing frozen looking at their children in danger and with the shock on their face.
I don’t freeze, when I am in danger, my first instinct is to attack. Or protect.
I used to be very fast at running too, have won numerous running competitions, but that will probably change.
I am great at cycling, have never met a person who could move legs faster than me. I was so fast, it was dangerous.
I have good stamina, determination, good balance, but I am impulsive - and hot headed, I am also risky, which dulls my mind sometimes. That might have hurt my survival.
Once I was going downstairs at night in Shanghai and told my brother on phone, I felt a bit scared it was too late.
He said “I’m not scared for you, I’m scared for whoever’s going to meet you at night and misleadingly think they can mess with you. You are the one they must be scared of meeting at night.” 🤣
Of course, he said it jokingly but there’s always a little truth in a joke. He just knows I always stand up for myself.
But I don’t like it, deep down, I am very gentle, sweet and not so strong at all.
I don’t like showing that side of myself, because that’s a mask. Deep down, I am scared and I think I am not strong at all.
A lot of attention and I always had to protect myself.
Sometimes I was chased down on streets at night, once I was chased by 5 high schoolers when I was 11, I saved myself.
I have very friendly eyes, and I smile, or I look shy sometimes, so people (men) think that they can take advantage of me, once at 21, I was on subway, a man came very close to me, and touched me inappropriately, I left many times and he approached again and again, I then I decided to show him a lesson,
At a stop, I smiled at him, waved a hand to him and signed him to bow down so I could whisper in his ear. When he did that, I grabbed his nipple, twisted it and told him smiling “Darling, you’ll get lost on this station, or, I’ll follow you, wherever you leave and accompany you to the police. Go now, I don’t like to repeat twice.” He said sorry and left.
When I was doing my Bachelors I paid for some of it by working security at the college & at a nearby mall. The mall - which had a very very heavy illegal drug problem - was known as the mall from hell due to the Hells Angels, MS-13 affliates, etc that ran it.
Let's just say even though most people think I'm hardly threatening I can evaluate & plan within 30 seconds. Such as this morning when took mum to the outside ATM. I saw the homeless person sitting by the ATMs long before she did & left my little hip purse in the truck because as I told her, I need my hands free in case he's an idiot.
One of my previous roles was to be stationed in Afghanistan, and prior to this I had to undergo several security and survival training including a week long HEAT course (Hostile Environment Awareness Training) to be prepared for the worst. During all the attacks (rocket attack, car explosions and direct gunfire) including evacuating from Kabul, I went directly into survival mode and followed all the steps according to procedure.
Yet, I froze up and got tunnel vision whilst being in Kiev (Ukraine) in midst of missile attacks.
So moving forward I wish no matter the circumstanes, I would have good surivial instinct, when its needed. But with the above incidents in place, I don't know how I would react.
Not sure. At times when I'm startled, I notice that my fists instantly ball & I prepare to defend myself. And if I hear noises of distress, I think I could react pretty quickly 🤔. But there maybe a limit on it though. Maybe I wouldn't know what to do in situations where someone's like murdering people near me or something. I've never experienced that so I have no training for it. But I do have a feeling that I'd remember to go all in (and fuck some shit up) or go all out (and get tf out of there).
I have good survival skills. I drove by a car wreck that just happened. I carry a pair of heavy leather gloves in my truck as well as a crowbar an fire extinguisher. I pulled over and i knew enough not to move anyone unless a fire started. I did not go in full bore and started smashing windows and pulling people out. I assessed the situation while waiting for the fire department to show up. I knew most of the guys on the trucks so I just told them what I found and then went on my way.,
Damn how long are your nails… but i think i’d figure stuff out under pressure as long as it doesn't involve animals, bugs or providing cpr. Otherwise I’m toast
My nails are short AF. I keep em so short you can barely see the white on them. It's one of those bedroom door locks with the little slit on the outside you can just twist to open.
I don't freeze but I don't jump into action irrationally, either. I'm pretty good at assessing situations almost instantly and taking appropriate action.
I have never been in a life or death situation but I assume I would react based on how most humans have evolved to react. Run if i can excapt the danger. Freeze if running would be futile.
The only life or death situation I have faced was when I was hit by a car and really did not have time for any reaction. But I remain calm under pressure so I think I would have good survival instincts.
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