Nail in the Fence

To all of you....make sure you read all the way down
to the last sentence.
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 praise and they always want
to open their hearts to us."