Measure Twice Cut Once.

Thought for the Day……

One who has read books, magazine articles or watched wood working videos has learned that “Measure Twice, Cut Once” is the mantra of the consummate wood worker or craftsman. Simply put, this adage inculcates the necessity of careful planning and attention to detail that separates the true craftsman from the inexperienced. Exotic woods and expensive mill work can be rendered useless if the wood worker fails to plan and measure carefully, a cut made too short can be disastrous, and result in waste of material and time. Therefore craftsmen, authors and others involved in the operative aspect of wood working or carpentry constantly repeat this “mantra” in the hopes of ingraining it into the psyche of the novice, helping them to be the better enabled to perform the tasks required of the craftsman. But can we use this adage in a speculative sense?

Measure once in a speculative sense might mean to think, to meditate on the task before committing to the “cut” — the implementation of what ever the task might be. All far too often we fail to think, to apply critical thought as to what the far reaching implications of our actions can have. We never plan to fail but we fail to plan. We fail to consider the possibilities that our actions might have undesirable effects later, both on us and those around us. Sometimes we fail to consider even the little things such as unintentional ambiguity in our spoken and written words that can be misinterpreted by those we care for causing them pain through their misunderstanding of our intent. Through rashness that results from lack of meditation we fail consider how our actions might influence others, we simply fail to consider their viewpoint, we fail to place ourselves in their shoes, so to speak. We must learn to apply critical thought, thoroughly analyzing situations and then listen to that small inner-voice for inspiration.

Measuring twice might be turning to prayer before attempting implementation of the plan. Any great undertaking worthy of our attentions is worthy of prayer. Through prayer we open our minds to that small inner voice in each of us that originates from God. Prayer can reveal to us aspects of our undertakings that we might not note otherwise, sometimes preventing us from regrettable mistakes. Through prayer we should learn to place everything in the hands of God, letting him lead us to a successful implementation of our tasks and undertakings.

The act of measuring once then measuring twice before making the cut, can give us the time to reach a point of calm and level headiness, which is preferable to achieve before reacting harshly and doing that which we will regret later. Many times we react to a given situation with great emotion, and many time it would be preferable to pray and meditate, (Measure Twice) before reacting in such a manner that we might regret our actions afterward, perhaps even regretting those actions for a lifetime. Just as in the act of cutting a board for a woodworking project, once cut, we can not undo what we have done, and just as a board cut too short might be disastrous, an act done in anger or without forethought also might come up short.