I try to look straight ahead at the ground in front of me, like Bruce mentioned. Although when I see something "striking" approaching my way, this sometimes is not enough. At times I slow my pace, gently shield my eyes as if I'm protecting them from the sun, turn my neck slightly to the side, and look up at a spot in the sky as if something grabbed my attention. This doesn't work for extended periods of time because it looses the casual look and people begin wondering what you're staring at in the sky, but for a brief moment to a few seconds (which is really all we need) it works great! It's easier to look up (like this) without looking awkward, than to look down and intensely stare at the ground.
Sometimes when facing big challenges in the street, I require a lot of focus in looking down at the ground. My forehead creases, and I stare very intensely at a certain spot (many people can mistake that for the look of a severely distraught person). With all the intensity that is there, looking up at the sky or the tops of some tall buildings can very natural.
Always try to make the best out of every given situation. When sitting in the bank Friday afternoon waiting for the banker to prepare your deposits, understand that these things can sometimes take a while, and this may give you many opportunities to catch a glance at her beauty (which can be a real test for an addict). When faced with such a situation, I usually come with a folder containing business related documents and busily fumble through my papers studying them while she is doing work on the computer. In one situation, I sat for 15 min. taking care of all sorts of things, minding my own business, and only looking up when spoken to or when responding. After, I was able to tell that the woman had a tremendous amount of respect for my not staring at her. I'm sure, as men generally stare, she was not used to seeing someone not consider her "eye candy". Knowing that that was not what I was after, she cut out all of the flirtatious and bubbly talk (the bankers in my area are very personal and flirt like crazy) and made an extra assertion to be strictly professional (which is not the way she normally behaves, as I know from prior visits to the bank).
If you don't have a prop at hand (like a cellphone, PDA, papers, a book, etc.), you can always study the inner architecture of the building or go through some brochures. I bet many people don't know the color order of the traffic signals or the timing of each intersection's red light. When waiting in the intersection (driving in your car), focusing on all sorts of trivial nonsense always beats getting pulled into glancing through the windows of neighboring cars.
In summary: When "not looking", it is sometimes better to find something kosher to look at if you can't simply distract yourself for the moment (meaning: in circumstances where you need to look away for extended periods of time). When you have something to focus your mind on, you're doing much more than "not looking". You're not thinking about "not looking". You're busy with something.
True there are always situations that make us want to turn around and run. But an addict always plans his escape ahead of time. A good escape is usually one where you don't run, but instead, you work with the situation to avoid the issue.
2B
