My first mREIT cut its dividend twice in 14 months and I held through both

Bought in around Q1 2020, small position, about 22k in a non-hybrid agency name. First cut came April 2020, second that October. I did not add, I did not sell. I just watched book value and waited. By mid-2021 the dividend had partially recovered and book was closer to where I'd originally estimated fair value. I am still not sure whether holding through those cuts was disciplined or just stubborn, and I genuinely cannot tell you which quality saved me. The position is up about 31 percent total return from entry including reinvested dividends, but if the rate environment had moved differently I'd be writing a very different post. What I want to know is whether anyone has a way of deciding in advance, before the second cut happens, whether the underlying book is intact enough to hold. I watched spread compression and repo costs the whole time and still could not convince myself I had a clear answer.