There once was a little girl who had a bad temper. Her mother gave her
a bag of nails and told her that every time she lost her temper, she
must hammer a nail into the back of the fence.
The first day the girl had driven 37 nails into the fence.
Over the next few weeks, as she learned to control her anger, the
number of nails hammered daily gradually dwindled down. She discovered
it was easier to hold her temper than drive those nails into the fence.
Finally the day came when the girl didn’t lose her temper at all. She
told her mother about it and the mother suggested that the girl now
pull out one nail for each day that she was able to hold her temper.
The day passed and the young girl was finally able to tell her mother
that all the nails were gone. The mother took her daughter by the hand
and led her to the fence.
She said, “You have done well, my daughter, 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 person 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.
Thank you for being a friend and please forgive me if I have ever left a hole in your fence…