I've had my hair cipped back to a number 2 and a huge variety of short-short styles. It's so much easier to style and manage when it's short. I've never hesitated for a moment to cut huge amounts of hair off - it's only hair and it always grows back.
If your hair is pretty thick I'm guessing it grows fast too. Mine grows pretty fast which is great because if I decide I don't fancy a style I can grow it out and get a new style really soon. The down side is that keep your short style looking sharp you do need to see a hairdresser at least once every 6 weeks.
My husband always says he doesn't like this and he doesn't like that if I ask him about it so now I just go and get it done without discussing it first and he always likes it. Wjat he likes in theory and what he likes in practice are differant things lol.