The Boy and the Fence

There once was a little boy who had a bad temper. His
father gave  him  a bag of nails and told him that every
time he lost his temper, he must hammer a
nail into the back of the fence.

The first day the boy had driven 37 nails into the
fence. Over the next few weeks, as he learned to control
his anger, the number of nails hammered daily gradually
dwindled down.

He discovered it was easier to hold his temper than to drive
those nails into the fence...Finally the day came when the
boy didn't lose his temper at all.

He told his father about it and the father suggested
that the boy nowpull out one nail for each day that he was
able to hold his temper. The days passed and the young boy
was finally able to tell his father that all the nails were gone.

The father took his son by the hand and led him to the
fence. He said,
"You have done well, my son, but look at the holes in the
fence. The
fence will never be the same. When you say things in
anger, they leave a
scar just like this one.

You can put a knife in a man and draw it out. It won't
matter how many times you say I'm sorry, the wound is
still there.  A verbal wound is as bad as a physical one.

Friends are a very rare jewel, indeed. They make you
smile and encourage you to succeed. They lend an ear,
they share a word of praise, and they always want to open
their hearts to us."

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