How often have you been in a store or parking lot or somewhere public and realized that you have no idea what is going on around. you?
We have all been there, we are so focused on the kids or our phone or the task at hand that we have completely neglected to pay attention to our surroundings. This would be living in a "white" world.
Cooper's Color Code is a spectrum of colors describing a person's awareness of their surroundings. When a person is in condition White, they are 100% relaxed and unaware of their surroundings. This is an acceptable color if you are in your home but even there, I would suggest that a person should be somewhere between white and yellow.
The next step up in awareness is condition Yellow. In this condition, you are keeping your head moving, you are not focused on one particular thing and you are being very aware of the world around you. Anytime you are in public, you should be in condition Yellow.
After yellow, is condition Orange. In orange, you have recognized something that is out of the ordinary, it requires more specific attention. While you are continuing to be aware of your entire surroundings, this specific thing is the focus of your attention. This could be a person who is wearing a heavy winter coat in the summer, it could be a vehicle that is parked in a very unordinary or strange place, it could be someone you do not know who is clearly walking directly toward you. Any number of situations or instances can make a person move from condition yellow up to condition Orange.
The last, and most severe, color is Red. In condition red, a clear threat has been recognized and realized. You are prepared, because you were in condition orange already, and you are now ready and acting to defend yourself. This could be by running away, using pepper spray or, if necessary, deploying a firearm to protect yourself or someone else from a life threatening situation.
Next time you are in a public place, think about which color you are in and which color you should be in. Which color do you generally live in? Have you ever escalated to condition orange or red?
