You guys, I’ll be the first person to tell you that a life lived in fear is not one worth living. It’s not healthy to constantly be looking over your shoulder and to be certain that you are about to be a victim of a natural disaster, a random accident, or even an intentional act of crime. Statistically, the odds are that you AREN’T.

But there IS something to be said for keeping your wits about you, and being very consistent with protecting yourself and your property. A few weeks ago, when we were scrubbing and sealing our back deck, we made a misstep, and it cost us.

Our weed-eater had been on our back deck, just by our door. We had to move it in order to beautify the deck. Well, for one night, Tim moved everything from the deck into the back yard, itself. That was all it took for someone who had obviously been watching our stuff all summer to take action. I suppose that stepping onto our deck was not something they were willing to do, but once the item they wanted was just in the yard, it seemed easy enough to steal.

And steal it, they did.

I cannot begin to tell you how mad Tim was at himself for his mistake.  He was actually confused at first because he really thought he had brought the weed-eater inside. He had every intention of doing so. But he’s a human. He makes mistakes. And this time, he forgot to take that important step.

I think the scariest thing for me is the realization that someone had been watching our stuff every single day, waiting for their one opportunity. This reminds me of the time that my best friend had her car stolen the one time she forgot to lock her car doors. That meant that someone had been casing her car every single night, waiting for it to be just a little bit easier to steal. Same situation here (though I guess I’m glad we lost a weed-eater, and not a car!).

The lesson I hope you learn from this is NOT that you should be scared, or that you should never even have anything in your front or back yard, but that you should assume that folks who are up to no good are paying a bit of attention, and are waiting for you to be careless. One way to keep thieves at bay is to lock up your stuff. Our big and beautiful grill wasn’t touched, for example, because it is locked to our deck with a Master Lock device. We had it locked even when it was in the yard (just kept it right next to the deck). I’m imagining the thief thinking he was about to have two awesome items, and being really bummed when he saw that Master Lock device around the grill. I only wish we had a lock around that weed-eater, too.

So pay closer attention to what you are leaving laying around this fall. I’m not trying to sound creepy, but I promise you, someone else is watching and waiting for their chance. Don’t make it easy for them.

Disclosure: I am a member of the Master Lock Live Secure Safety Squad, and as such, I receive complimentary products as a thank you for my time. All opinions expressed here are strictly my own, however.