The Fence......

Once there was a little boy with a bad temper.
His father gave him a bag of nails and told him that every time he lost him temper,
to hammer a nail in the back fence. At first the boy had driven many nails into the fence.
Everytime he lost his temper he did as his father had asked him and hammered a nail into the fence.
After some time it gradually dwindled down until he no longer had a need to drive nails into the fence.
He discovered it was easier now to hold his temper. 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 now at the fence. See all the holes you have put into it? The fence will
never be the same. When you say things in anger, they leave a scar just like these. It
won't matter how many times you say I'm sorry, the wound is still there.
The boy became a man who was known for his patience and strength.
He never again lost his temper.