THE NAIL - a lesson in self control.

[WIZARD]

THE NAIL - a lesson in self control

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 now pull 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 very rare jewels,
indeed. They make you smile and encourage you to succeed. They lend
an ear, they share words of encouragement and they always want to open
their hearts to us."


anon

[LovelyLadyLux]

Interesting one Wiz. Hadn't heard this one before.

[Dusak]

There is another lesson to be learned by this story. Keep your thumb out of the way when driving nails into things. After many years in the building trade I've lost count of how many times I've flattened it. True friends stay well clear until you have stopped vocalizing the pain, stupidity and bad language tantrums. They learn from your mistakes, but occasionally, you personally don't.