Friday, February 8, 2013

Monday Ponderance: The Mark of Temper


I thought this story, which I posted in 2009 was appropriate for these days....

This story was found on www.academictips.org/blogs


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 throw words out and try to take them back. It won’t matter how many times you say I’m sorry, the mark is still there.
Make sure you control your temper the next time you are tempted to say something you will regret later.

1 comment:

  1. Dave, what a wonderful life lesson. Something we all must think about on a daily basis as we weave our way through life.

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