A Stitch In Time Saves Nine

Growing up I always wondered about the meaning of this idiom. But each time I had a little hole in my dress and did not get it fixed early enough; the hole increased until it was a must to get it fixed. My mum will then question me vigorously on why I did not bring in the said dress earlier.

I had this favourite pinafore I loved to wear because it was comfortable, classy and unique. However, I wore it so much it began to have little holes on it. Instead of fixing it I managed it until I knew it was really bad. Finally, I took the dress to my mum and she said we had to throw it away. I begged her to stitch it and she informed me it was beyond repair. My mum informed me that if I had brought it weeks earlier, it could have been patched. She ended with “A stitch in time saves nine”; I was heartbroken.

But as I moved slowly into adulthood, I began to clearly understand the meaning.

Life itself taught me how to make a stitch in time to save myself from making nine stitches in future. In school I learnt to read daily than to wait for exam periods before reading vigorously. Especially if I wanted to do better academically and not stay up all night during exams. When it came to my chores at home, I learnt to do them daily to avoid working all through the weekend in order to complete them.

“Amateurs sit and wait for inspiration, the rest of us just get up and go to work.”

Stephen King

Recently, I had to get braces after over 10 years of hearing dentists say that I needed braces. The first time I heard it I actually responded (in my mind sha) that it was the dentist that needed it. The question I ask myself now; is why was I so against braces, why did I not ask questions, why did getting braces scare me so much. I can’t answer those questions but without any push I knew it was time to get the braces finally and guess what I finally did it. If I had been more open minded, I could have asked relevant questions and done my research before brushing off the idea earlier.

Procrastination is a habit that can become a character, if it is not addressed earlier.

So, it is with our life choices; making right choices early will save you money, heartache, regrets and time. For me the idiom “a stitch in time” simply means not procrastinating what you can do today until tomorrow. It seems really simple but ask an overweight person how they added so much weight. You may realize it is not so easy to put in work daily without seeing immediate results and keep at it.

“Procrastination is the bad habit of putting of until the day after tomorrow what should have been done the day before yesterday.”

Napoleon Hill

A stitch in time saves nine also applies to gaining knowledge daily, removing assumptions and putting in the work needed at the right time. It means when you see a problem that needs solving, you tackle it immediately and not wait for it to accumulate.

Procrastination is also a sign of poor time management which will consequently affect your decision making.

It is easier to make better decisions when we are not under a time constraint or any pressure. A clear understanding on how the decisions we make today may affect our future either positively or negatively may just be the push we all need to take action.

I will end with this; do not put off till tomorrow what you can do today, many great destinies never became great because they kept procrastinating. Procrastination has destroyed a lot of lives and is still destroying. Do not be added to its list of destroyed destinies. BE WISE!!!

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