We go around appraising situations all the time: at home, at work, in the car, in our relationships, in social settings.  We aren’t aware of this appraising because most of these situations are within our normal range of experience.  But if we decide that a situation has some degree of danger to our security, or it’s something we can’t handle, our body goes into what has been called a “fight or flight” mode.  This is our bodies’ way of keeping us aware and alert so we can decide what to do in this threatening situation.