Carrying makes me both safer and More Careful, in the first place.
In many ways, I think that my decision to carry makes me safer independent of having the firearm. In my opinion, the fact that any "unpleasant" encounter I have while carrying has -- at least in principle -- the possibility of escalating to a use of lethal force, makes me even MORE careful about avoiding that situation in the first place.
I guess I'd put it this way: I don't see my carry permit as giving me license to go into a more dangerous part of town than I would visit if I weren't armed, or to drop down to the "murder mart" for a pack of gum when I'd normally never consider going there... rather, because I know that by carrying I am introducing raising the possibility of being involved in a shooting from a probability of zero to even a very infinitessimally small probability, I make better choices about where I go. However confident I am in my ability to effectively employ a firearm for my self-protection, I still think the best gunfight is the one you never had in the first place.
Another quick illustration of this: without carrying, I might be tempted to return a rude word or gesture to another motorist while behind the wheel; while carrying, though, I make sure I'm even more careful to avoid escalating unpleasant sitations, because the consequences are potentially much greater if they get out of hand.
The flip side of this, of course, is that if I DO find myself in a dangerous situation, carrying is empowering in the sense that I know that it allows me to apply this "bend like a reed" (to use a kung-fu movie cliche) mindset secure in the knowledge that the sidearm gives me another option for defending myself if it comes down to it.
