Hey, I've finally decided to learn how to flat pick cause i think i'm getting arthritus or something.  About a week or two ago I got to the point where I'm "comfortable" with the pick as an alternative to fingerpicking and there for have been playing exclusively with a pick, but I'm just now noticing a lot of new scratches on the sound board though. 

The scratches on top of the sound whole are fairly un-noticable and don't worry me too much, but the ones at the bottom (right between the strings and the plastic pick gaurd) really have me worried.  They're not really scratches, they're more like gouges, like the wholes in the ground after a midget tries to golf with a really tall persons clubs.  These gouges are showing up after just a month or two of picking (and singing which may make me a little more careless with my strumming cause i'm still getting the hang of it). 

Is this typical wear for guitars or should I start being more carefull with my strumming?  The guitar is only about 3 years old, and has really only been strummed on with a pick (exclusively) for like... 6 moths tops, and these concerning gouges definatly weren't here 1 month ago =/

...take a look at Willie Nelson's guitar "Trigger" if you REALLY wanna see some "picking" wear!

Gotta laugh because I have seen 'Trigger' as recently as a couple of weeks ago on public television, extra sound hole and all !