Monday, September 10, 2018
Measure Twice, Cut Once
By: Donovan Baldwin
There's an old carpenter's adage, "Measure twice, cut once." In other words, don't just lay the tape out, assume that what you saw, or thought you saw (no pun intended - well, maybe a little), was correct.
It's worth checking what you're about to do before doing it so that you don't have to regret afterwards.
You can't add back that extra inch or centimeter you accidentally cut off because you got the first measurement wrong.
You cannot always reclaim a relationship, your personal pride or self-esteem, or restore someone else's, once you've whacked it off at the wrong point... or for the wrong reason.
Oh, sure, in the real world, we often have to do things "on the fly", or, simply, being the messy, imperfect humans that we sometimes are, go with our first reaction, and, to steal a thought, regret at leisure. Still, there are times when taking a second look, doing a reassessment of the situation, and, our intended response, IS possible.
Might be worth the effort.
You might discover that your first reaction is sometimes a little "off". After all, "heat" CAN make things change size, or look hazy, temporarily.
Might want to re-measure when everything's cooled down. Or, just apologize. That sometimes DOES put that extra inch or centimeter back on.
Magic.
There's an old carpenter's adage, "Measure twice, cut once." In other words, don't just lay the tape out, assume that what you saw, or thought you saw (no pun intended - well, maybe a little), was correct.
It's worth checking what you're about to do before doing it so that you don't have to regret afterwards.
You can't add back that extra inch or centimeter you accidentally cut off because you got the first measurement wrong.
You cannot always reclaim a relationship, your personal pride or self-esteem, or restore someone else's, once you've whacked it off at the wrong point... or for the wrong reason.
Oh, sure, in the real world, we often have to do things "on the fly", or, simply, being the messy, imperfect humans that we sometimes are, go with our first reaction, and, to steal a thought, regret at leisure. Still, there are times when taking a second look, doing a reassessment of the situation, and, our intended response, IS possible.
Might be worth the effort.
You might discover that your first reaction is sometimes a little "off". After all, "heat" CAN make things change size, or look hazy, temporarily.
Might want to re-measure when everything's cooled down. Or, just apologize. That sometimes DOES put that extra inch or centimeter back on.
Magic.
Labels: adage, anger, carpenter, donovan baldwin, life lesson, measure, measure twice cut once, relationships
# posted by Donovan Baldwin @ 7:33 AM 
