Attackers use common sense when attacking or they end up in the news and on the internet as jokes. Survivors of needless attacks often land on the news as subjects of sympathy when they didn't use any common sense to avoid the attack.

Although no one can say or do anything to deserve an attack, we often put ourselves in vulnerable situations simply by ignoring the two natural resources we have to prevent such things: common sense and gut feelings. The fault of an attack always lies with the attacker as we all have control over just two things: what we think and what we do. However, approximately 95% of verbal, mental, emotional and physical attacks are easily preventable.

We've all heard that walking down an alley at night is dangerous yet people have been attacked there while taking a shortcut, walking home from a party. Where does personal safety enter into that decision? It doesn't.

We hear that we should stay away from people we have a bad gut feeling about yet when dating, for example, we go out with people, regardless of bad gut feelings, just to have someone to be with. I did it and I was raped. Did I deserve it? No. Could I have prevented it? Absolutely, just by using a tiny bit of common sense that told me there were red flags.

A friend of mine got into a car with someone at an event, to avoid being rude, even though she had a feeling the woman was not a good driver based on things the woman said. The driver turned into oncoming traffic and caused an accident that could easily have killed all four people in her car.

Personal safety requires us to use common sense in our daily lives just as we would to do business or decide which healthy food to eat. Common sense tells us to listen to our gut feelings. It will always tell us the truth, whether we believe it or not.