Measure twice, cut once

I’ve been thinking about this phrase a lot lately as we’re moving into our new home. Hanging shelves and performing various other little fix-it projects has us measuring (and cutting) quite a bit.

When it comes to any type of building or crafting, you would be wise to remember the phrase “Measure twice, cut once.”

But when we get to areas of life with big decisions, it becomes less useful. Choosing a place to live, for example. Getting married. Starting a new job. Deciding whether or not to go back to school.

In those cases, it’s impossible to measure because there aren’t at least two points of reference. There’s only one — where you are now. You can only measure looking backwards in time, at which point you made your cut long ago.

You can get pretty exacting with dimensions when you’re building a shelf. When you’re building a life, it’s impossible to measure until you’re done.

Sometimes it’s not only useful but necessary to stop trying to measure and just cut.

Photo by Diana Polekhina on Unsplash