There鈥檚 a scar just over my right eye, under my eyebrow.

What dangerous encounter caused this lasting mark, you may ask? Was I in a knife fight over a briefcase of cash in Marrakesh? Did I fly over the handlebars of my Moto Guzzi at 180 km/h while swerving to avoid a puppy? Did a bullet graze me as I knocked the gun from the hands of a crazed hostage-taker?

Nope.

I was two years old, and my dad was digging in the garden, and I walked up behind him quietly, and he turned around, still holding the shovel.

WHACK!

I got a free trip to the ER, two stitches, and a lifelong scar out of the deal.

This is not exactly a cool injury.

I worry that it set the template for the rest of my life.

I don鈥檛 get injured that much (advantages of a desk job) but when I do, it鈥檚 almost always in the most mundane, bordering on embarrassing, ways possible.

I鈥檝e pulled a muscle in my back when I fell over while tying my shoes. Truly, I am an example of nimble grace to all who know me.

I鈥檝e also hurt myself 鈥� and I鈥檓 sure someone out there has done the same 鈥� by sneezing.

Yep, I鈥檝e hurt muscles in my back, and more recently, I managed to aggravate an old injury in my sternum with a vigorous sneeze.

(The original injury was also not cool. Lift with your knees, kids!)

How about bicycle crashes?

Nope. For all my thousands of kilometres of cycling over the years, I鈥檝e never been in a bad crash. I鈥檓 very cautious.

The only times I鈥檝e 鈥渃rashed鈥� have been when I was entirely stationary. Fun fact: if you use the kind of bike shoes that snap into the pedals, and you momentarily forget to unsnap one when you roll to a stop, you just sort of tip over to one side, slowly. It gives you a couple of seconds to consider taking up jogging instead.

So, for my New Year鈥檚 resolution, I鈥檝e decided to injure myself only in interesting ways.

I鈥檓 not going to try to hurt myself, mind you. I鈥檓 just going to ensure that if I do get injured, it鈥檚 while doing something interesting.

READ ALSO: PAINFUL TRUTH: Reasons to be optimistic in 2024

The problem with this plan is that I鈥檓 a deeply cowardly person. I鈥檓 not likely to take up diving with great white sharks, parachuting into the wilderness to fight forest fires, or get a new job as the bodyguard to the contested heir of a small Central European kingdom.

I don鈥檛 like heights, or the cold, and I鈥檓 nervous around large predatory animals (which has happened a couple of times, this is also the benefit of a job as a reporter).

I also don鈥檛 take part in any cool sports (cycling is only cool if you鈥檙e in the Tour de France or the Paris-Roubaix, now that will get you some cool scars 鈥� if you survive), and I drive a mid-sized Subaru. At the speed limit, for the most part.

So I might have to settle for some permanent Sharpie 鈥渟cars.鈥�

I鈥檒l tell people I got them wrestling live Bengal tigers for money.