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 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. Make sure you control your  temper the next time you are tempted to  say something you will regret later.