Be careful out there: Think safety first at all times. And pray.

When you consider how many ways we have to do ourselves in — falls, cuts, crashes, etc. — I’m amazed we mostly make it through the day. I don’t know about you, but I’ve sure had my share of near misses though.

The other day, we finally got to take a road trip to see our grandchildren. This after getting vaccinations and quarantining at home for 10 days just to be allowed into our daughter’s house (she’s a stickler when it comes to COVID safety precautions).

So now I’m loading stuff into the back seat of my truck. At one point, I stepped up on the running board, as I’ve done many times before, to rearrange things, Tetris-like, in the hope of fitting it all in. I extend my leg to go up but this time, instead of my head going inside the truck, I wound up bashing it right above my hairline, on the top of my forehead.

There is a metal loop up there on the truck that the upper door latch catches on, and I hit it hard. There was blood all over the place. What a way to start a road trip.

I ran into the house screaming with blood all over my face. My wife used paper towels to stop the bleeding. Quite frankly, no pun intended, I’d felt a sharp pain in my neck when I bashed my head, so I was thankful I’d gotten off with only a cut.

Still my wife thought it would be a good idea to get it looked at. I wound up having three staples put in my head to close the gash. Yes, staples. When I had them removed a week later, I could see they were made of fine metal wire with three prongs each.

I never heard of this before but they did work. I felt a little like Frankenstein.

The other day, I was sharpening some lawn-mower blades. Of course you have to check to see when you’re done. Normally I can do this with just a gentle pat of a finger, but this time I sliced myself and drew more blood. Are you sensing a pattern here? Yikes.

So many times I’m doing some kind of work on something, and I get so into it that time just passes. Then later on, when I go to take a shower, I notice cuts, scratches, and scrapes, having no idea how they happened. I honestly don’t know how that is possible. You would think you would feel those kinds of things.

Maybe your nerves get less sensitive as you get older. Or maybe when you’re really into something you get less sensitive to pain. Who knows.

One time, I was taking the kids to a church service. I had them in car seats in a mini-van. After I parked, I got out, opened the big, sliding side door, and reached in to get the first car seat out.

I don’t know what happened but I misjudged it badly and bashed my head into the top of the car, very hard. The funny thing is that was one service I really enjoyed. Maybe some sermons just go well with a light concussion.

A new thing that people do now that is very dangerous is get so involved with their phones that they will literally walk out in front of a car or walk into an open manhole cover. That is just scary. Nothing on your phone is that important.

In fact, I often forget to turn on the Bluetooth when I’m driving. When that happens and the phone rings, I just ignore it. I’m not going to risk an accident to answer a phone call, period. Whatever it is just has to wait.

I’ve had a bunch more of these kinds of unforeseen incidents over the years. I have:

— Walked into a patio door that was so clean it might as well have been invisible;

— Walked into a streetlight lamppost due to not paying attention;

— Grabbed a pot on the stove without an oven mitt;

— Showed someone how I cut myself while slicing a bagel, and in the process proceeded to cut myself exactly the same way again;

— Hammered my thumb;

— Stuck a screwdriver up my nose;

— Fell off a ladder (at least twice);

— Bashed my toes into many different things;

— Stepped on Legos while going to the bathroom in the dark.

And on and on and on. I guess I’m lucky to be alive at this point.

Mr. Webster defines an accident as “an unforeseen and unplanned event or circumstance.” There is a lot of wisdom in that.

For example, I still work on my own cars as much as I can. Sometimes you have to work underneath the car, which means jacking it up and putting it on stands. When I do this, I examine things every which way from Sunday to make absolutely, positively sure everything is solid and safe.

You would think that’s enough but you can never be sure. I received notice that many jack stands of the same brand I use had been recalled. The advice was to stop using them immediately.

I ran out to the garage and checked my numbers. Fortunately, I don’t have any of the ones that are in the recall, but what if I did and they collapsed while I was under the car? Or what if the ones I’m using now get recalled in the future?

All you can do is, whatever it is you’re doing, think safety first at all times, always. And pray.

You should always be aware of your circumstances and be careful at all times, but at the same time you don’t want to obsess over it. It’s possible to get so worried about potential calamities that you don’t ever want to leave the house, commonly known as agoraphobia.

Oh man. I don’t know about you, but being stuck home during the pandemic means I’m dying to travel and get outside to have some fun again. As soon as things open up, that’s just what I plan to do. I guess I’ll just try to be careful, hope for the best, and try not to bash my head while getting into vehicles.