I have no grandiose illusions or fantasies of being an action hero and no desire to ever be confronted with a situation that requires deadly self defense. I also realize that such occasions are rare and hopefully I'll go my entire life without ever encountering any such scenarios. Further more, I understand that pulling out a firearm often makes situations worse for oneself and that I am also probably a horrible shot under pressure and as such, I'm much more likely to run away or comply in any foreseeable self defense situation.
That said, I'd rather be prepared to defend myself or family in a no-hope situation than become an defenseless victim.
I don't actually carry all that often. I don't bring my gun to work and we live near (and regularly cross) a state border so I usually don't always carry when just out doing errands. It more like sometimes I holster up when I think about it or when I'm running out to the convenience store late at night. Most of the people I know who carry aren't cowboys or macho-wannabe's either. They're just regular middle/upper-middle class suburbanites who you would never know have a firearm on them.