Once upon a time there
was a little boy who was talented, creative, handsome, and extremely bright. A
natural leader, the kind of person everyone would normally have wanted on their
team or project.
But he was also
self-centered and had a very bad temper. When he got angry, he usually said,
and often did, some very hurtful things. In fact, he seemed to have little
regard for those around him, even
friends. So, naturally, he had few. “But,” he told himself, “That just shows
how stupid most people are!”
As he grew, his parents
became concerned about this personality flaw, and pondered long and hard about
what they should do.
Finally, the father had
an idea. And he struck a bargain with his son. He gave him a bag of nails, and
a BIG hammer. “Whenever you lose your temper,” he told the boy, “I want you to
really let it out. Just take a nail and drive it into the oak boards of that
old fence outback. Hit that nail as hard as you can!”
Of course, those
weathered oak boards in that old fence were almost as tough as iron, and the hammer
was mighty heavy, so it wasn’t nearly as easy as it first sounded.
Nevertheless, by the
end of the first day, the boy had driven 37 nails into the fence (That was one
angry young man!). Gradually, over a period of weeks, the number dwindled down.
Holding his temper proved to be easier than driving nails into the fence!
Finally the day came
when the boy didn’t lose his temper at all. He felt mighty proud as he told his
parents about that accomplishment. “As a sign of your success,” his father
responded, “you get to PULL OUT one nail. In fact, you can do that each day
that you don’t lose your temper even once.”
Well, many weeks
passed. Finally one day the young boy was able to report proudly that all the nails
were gone.
At that point, the
father asked his son to walk out back with him and take one good look at the
fence. “You have done well, my son,” he said. “But I want you to notice the
holes that are left. No matter what happens from now on, this fence will never
be the same. Saying or doing hurtful things in anger produces the same kind of
result.
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