Who Am I ?

     I am a person who, beginning at an early age, has faced imminent danger and its' accompanying fear many times, and emerged triumphantly from each crisis as a stronger person, determined to face extremely dangerous situations with decisive speed, a sense of resolve drawn directly from my immortal soul, and great confidence in my understanding of what is right, and what is wrong.
     By sharing the insights that I've gained from successfully coping with dangerous situations, it is my goal to enable as many people as possible to perform seemingly impossible, improbable, feats of determination and skill, as needed, when extremely harmful situations present themselves.
     It may have begun in the early 1960's, when I was about three years old. My parents were busy entertaining a guest in our apartment, and somehow I decided that I was going to simply leave the apartment and explore the outside world. I walked out the back door, through the yard, and entered the alley. I walked a short distance away from our building, turned to look around, and Had No Idea Which Building Was My Home! A great rush of profound fear came over me, passed, and I used logic and reason to figure out which fenced yard I had walked out of. After successfully finding my way back into our apartment, I realized that everyone had been too busy to even notice that I'd been gone. That realization, and the understanding that it brought, (in terms of the danger that I had been exposed to), caused my young digestive system to forcefully empty itself with great gusto. Cramped apartments in the 1960's didn't come with their own bathrooms, so my Mother had to take me down the hall to give me a bath afterwards. Once I was all cleaned up, she had to leave momentarily to get  a towel, and while she was gone for only a moment, a strange man I didn't know opened the door of the bathroom and gave me such a look of pure evil and hatred, that I thought he was about to kill me right then and there! My mother came in just like the cavalry, scooped me up in her arms, and carried me away safely without further incident. The score: Little Jesse, 2, fear and the boogie man, 0.
      The 1960's and 70's brought one bully, (whose ass I kicked decisively), street gang wars, and a constant and determined effort on my part to pay attention to what was happening around me if I expected to survive to adulthood. During this time I developed a skill that I call "Security Awareness". It has enabled me to either avoid or survive several attempts to either rob me while walking, carjack me while driving, or otherwise take advantage of my kind and gentle nature. It also gave me an extreme level of confidence in being able to deal with all sorts of adverse situations.
     I always take great pains to avoid violent confrontations with others whenever possible. When this wasn't possible, I've found that I possess the ability take command during the early stages of a confrontation, and keep it from turning into an irreversible tragedy.
     Earlier this year, as I was walking from my truck to my home, two young men thought it would be a good idea to run up behind me, and attempt to rob me. They had no way of knowing that I'd noticed their presence, had prepared myself for such a possibility, and was overwhelmingly prepared to show them that robbing me wasn't a good idea. Without so much as a spoken word, or the use of a weapon, I was able to slow down their advance with a simple look and unmistakable body language.  As they walked past my home, I surprised them a second time, and looked down from my front porch and greeted them. No violence ensued, and all three of us went on with our lives. This is what I was able to achieve, and what I hope that others can learn from my book.
     Thanks for your time. Here's a direct link to my book on FastPencil.
http://www.fastpencil.com/publications/4182-Personal-Security-Techniques     
  

Imagine

A number of years ago, I was upset about something, and felt determined to get out of the house so that I could enjoy myself. This inner frustration caused me to ignore a clear warning sign that I was about to walk into a potentially life threatening confrontation. I was in a gas station, had put the fuel in my car, and as I turned around, four men, one of whom was carrying a long barreled pistol, stood side by side facing me. As they stood there, I took the initiative and asked them, What is this? They instructed me to give them my vehicle. My response was "Fuck You". This statement caused them to completely freeze, both physically and psychologically. In their wildest dreams, they couldn't imagine that a person alone, at night, would address them in such a manner when a carjacking had just been announced. Because I had taken the psychological initiative away from them, I was ultimately able to take the gun away from the gunman, strike him forcefully in the groin, and throw him to the ground. Just imagine how surprised they were when they realized that not all of us immediately surrender when confronted by seemingly overwhelming odds. For several weeks afterwards, I returned to this gas station, late at night. At first I wanted, more than anything else, to see these men again so that I could punish them for having the audacity to attempt to rob me. What I discovered, was that each time I returned to the scene of the attempted carjacking, I would experience an anxiety attack due to re-living the stressful encounter, even though I had been successful in defeating them. I treated myself for this post traumatic stress by returning to the gas station several more times, until I was able to go there without experiencing an adverse emotional episode. I hadn't thought about this in many years, but as I write this blog post I just considered what these men would think if they ever saw me again. They were probably terrified for quite some time, that they would see me again, and that I would finish thrashing them all with great gusto and enthusiasm. Please google my book, "Personal Security Techniques". I always prefer to avoid confrontations with criminals, but when I've found myself cornered, I've been able to turn the tables on them every time. Thank you. More to come.