You’ve spent a great evening with your friends in a nice restaurant. Your first evening off in a long time. You enjoyed it. Good food, good wine, good conversation. Just relaxing and having fun.
After a few hours, they all start to get tired and the first ones say goodbye. You are also tired and leave. You have parked your car in the nearby restaurant car park. It is only about 50 metres from the restaurant entrance. Reviewing the evening, smiling slightly to yourself at the many anecdotes you have heard today, you stroll towards your car, lost in thought. Just as you are about to get in, someone suddenly taps you on the shoulder, as if out of nowhere. You are scared to death. Thank goodness, it’s only one of the waiters bringing you the scarf you left behind in the restaurant. He had called after you several times without any reaction from you.
Whether you are an expat in a foreign country or in your home country, always be aware of your surroundings. Why? On the one hand, perpetrators do not want to be seen. On the other hand, offenders see that you are aware of your surroundings, which significantly reduces the likelihood that you will be chosen as a victim. And, the waiter couldn’t have scared you to death.
Relaxed mindfulness is the key to success.
