Better Holler and Gardens

One ought, every day at least, to hear a little song, read a good poem, see a fine picture, and if possible, speak a few reasonable words. A day is lost if one has not laughed.

Thursday, January 12, 2006

ANGER AND THE FENCE - LIFE LESSONS

"I believe that sometimes when I'm angry I have the right to be angry,
but that doesn't give me the right to be cruel."




ANGER AND THE FENCE LIFE LESSONS


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 to 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.






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