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 fence. The first day the boy had to drive 15 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 praise and they always want to open their hearts to us.