The Bag of Nails

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."