Measuring Sticks

                          
http://www.etsy.com/listing/72000731/vintage-wood-folding-measuring-stick

"Don't you get it? No one is using the same yardstick. Their idea of a full measure is rarely yours - or anyone elses."

          The Season of Second Chances

I was in a favorite shop of mine over the weekend, where I purchased an old measuring stick.

"Is there something special written on this that caused you to choose it over the others?" the clerk asked.

"No, I need a yardstick and I wanted it to look old."

The one I chose was well-worn with use. As I type, I wonder about the woman who used it before me.
 What was she like? Did she make all her children's clothes? Was she a mother at all? Was she a perfectionist?

The yardstick by which I measure life is well worn with use.
How do I measure up as a mother, a wife, a woman, a writer, a seamstress, ......?

Then I read the quote at the end of my novel last night.

Who am I trying to measure up to?

My own ideas of what a full measure is?

I love the thought that no one is using the same yardstick. So who's to say mine is right.
Better to lay it down and be who I am, to the full.