Try to be careful no matter what you're doing

I know we've all read threads warning about being careful. About how so many accidents happen around the home, farm, ranch, wherever. I think a lot of us are mindful every time we go out to do some work or a chore, and for the most part, we are careful and nothing happens.

But then, even when we like to think we're being mindful, and careful, and cognizant of what we're doing while we're doing it, our minds wander for just a second and pow! something happens. That's what happened to me a few weeks ago.

I was loading some items into the bed of my pickup, which I had backed up to my porch deck to make loading it easier. I had just finished loading it and put the tailgate up, and went to go down the three porch steps right beside the truck so I could move the truck. And I just stepped off into thin air, right beside the steps. Why, I don't know. I knew where the steps were, I had just looked right at them, but I just missed.

I went down like a ton of bricks on my right side. My head missed the back bumper of the truck by about 1'. I put both arms out, as you do when falling, and jammed everything from my wrists up to my shoulders. Thrashed my neck, landed on my side and hip, and twisted my right knee. Worst of all, when I fell, both feet sort of folded up behind me as I went down and I raked both shins and upper ankles across the front edge of the porch deck. I thought I had broken my legs or ankles, it hurt so badly.

I just lay there for about a minute, assessing myself before I moved. I could feel and wiggle everything but was unsure about my hip, ribs, chest and shoulders. Cell phone was IN THE TRUCK. Dumbass. So I lay there for about two more minutes flexing muscles and moving joints. I finally decided nothing was broken but I could feel wetness on my shins and ankles and I expected some blood, and sure enough there was. So I rolled over a little further onto my stomach and managed to push myself up to a sitting position. Everything hurt like hell but I was ok. I got ahold of the porch deck and used it to help me lever myself upright. Bloody jeans but nothing severe. I did feel somewhat dazed and had that cold, shaky shock feeling, but it was not severe.

I got inside and undressed and cleaned up to asses damage. I had deep abrasions down both shins with a LOT of swelling, but also arms swollen all the way up to and including my shoulders and cuts and scrapes on the heels of my palms from the dirt/rock path next to the porch. Next day I was so stove up I could hardly get out of bed. I didn't go anywhere for about five days because it hurt to walk too much. It's been three weeks and I still have big lumps on my shins but the bruising and swelling elsewhere is just about gone.

We all want to be careful because we know if we're by ourselves and something happens, it can be life threatening. Dumbass me, I left my phone in the truck instead of having it in my pocket, where it should have been, where I KNOW to keep it when I'm working outside. I KNOW it should be in my pocket, but I slipped up on being careful and left it where I couldn't quickly get at it.

Why I missed the step, I still don't know. I just did. Had I hit my head on the bumper, it could have been life threatening.

So once again, I'm trying to force myself to be more vigilant, more cognizant, and more prepared when working outside the house. Even though I usually am---this one time I was neither vigilant, cognizant nor prepared.

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Try to be careful no matter what you're doing