Measure twice and saw once

Folks, many moons ago I started working with an old carpenter. The first thing Ray taught me was his cardinal rule. It was measure twice and saw once! I may not have been an exceptionally bright young man but I instantly got his meaning. Make sure your information is correct before proceeding. If a 2x4 was to be six feet long he didn’t mean five feet eleven and a half or six feet one inch. I always remembered that but I must admit that it was years later when I equated that carpenter rule with other aspects of my life.

It is very important they we have all the facts , figures or whatever before we commit the action taken to complete whatever it is that we are contemplating doing.

If you are like me you have often looked back and realized that you acted on an impulse and not on the actual facts. These actions can, and often do, bring other embarrassment, pain and suffering.

Not only is this true of individuals but also of organizations, companies, and even nations. Perhaps, just perhaps many wars throughout the years would have never been fought if the leaders had taken time to check and recheck to make sure their facts were correct before they acted. Measure twice and saw once!

I may have not, and did not always follow that advice and paid dearly for some of my actions. Be that as it may I sure measured correctly when choosing my wife. I measured quite a few young ladies in my day but it was Betty who fit the standards that I wanted. Fortunately I measured up to her standards also. So on February, 27-1943 we were married. Now going on sixty five years later the building is still standing strong. So the measurements must have been correct.

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