I know! I know! That's not how the saying goes! I'm lucky Newton doesn't come straight out of the grave and hunt me down with a barrage of apples...so out of respect for the late smart guy I shall state his 3rd law of motion correctly, "For every action, there is an equal and opposite reaction". But that's not what we are talking about today...so, now that that's out of the way...on to the heart of my rambling.
I started reading "The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People" from where I left off months ago (yeah...sometimes life gets busy), and in the book the author mentioned about how a carpenter's motto is "measure twice, cut once". I found this super enlightening when I looked at that statement across the board as it correlated to my life in different areas, and found how simple yet profound that little motto could be. Those things that I gave proper time to, thought about prior, double checked, etc. are usually the ones I excelled at...whereas, the things I don't visualize or think through first are usually the ones I find myself repeating, fixing, or redoing. For example...I always double check cars coming both ways before making a turn and never just rely on mirrors. I prevented countless accidents with the "double check" (though it only works when you are the one doing the "double checking" and in no way prevents people from "single checking" and pulling out right in front of you) which is probably why I hold the record for longest run of having no points on a license for a girl that is never home and rarely sits still and can think of many situations where she has pushed the envelope in motorized vehicles. I use the "double check" in many other daily tasks like math problems, setting my alarm, checking someone's name before I send a text message, and any writings I do (though sometimes I get a little carried away and might bust out the "triple" or "quad check" for some instances). Funny enough for many years I never followed the ACTUAL carpenter's motto when measuring, leveling, and cutting wood (thanks to my dad for eventually making me see the light)...but applied it in almost all other situations like it was my job. (Again completely being misdiagnosed as far sighted as stated in earlier blogs.)
Anyway...I was thinking how amazing it would be if people would use that theory in every day life for things like their words and actions...hence my theory would go like this..."for every action there are two preparations". I think if people would take the time to think about what they are saying/doing it would house the potential to avoid many regrets and create a sense of ownership of one's actions and words. This would remind people that they have the ability to choose how they react and who they become. Obviously not everything can be prevented, however, just caring enough to put in a little extra effort always goes a long way for you and the other parties involved.
PS: Sorry again Newton ('cause I feel after this post we would be on a last name basis) for mangling your theory.
PPS: If it's any consolation, I still think your theory is better!
you are officially bookmarked. write often, i love to read.
ReplyDelete-kathryn
And you are officially my first comment! Will do Kathryn! Thanks!
ReplyDeleteHey, that makes sense.
ReplyDeleteWhy right a wrong when it can be prevented with a little care or consideration.
Micky.