Holes

A friend sent me this.
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There was once a boy with a fierce anger. He lost his temper often, screaming, throwing things, saying hard words.

One day, his father took him out to the back yard. There, where nothing had been before, was a long board fence. Beside the fence was a box of nails. The father handed the boy a hammer.

"Son, whenever you get angry, you come out here and hammer nails into these boards."

The boy did as his father told him - every time he felt himself losing his temper, he went out into the yard and hammered nails into the boards, working his way down the fence.

When he reached the end, his father said "Now, son, when you are angry, pull the nails out."

The boy did.

One day, he pulled the last nail out...and he found that he no longer needed to hammer nails. He no longer lost his temper.

His father pointed at the fence. "You see that, son? All those holes? Thoes are your angry words - every time you spoke or acted in anger, you made a hole in someone's heart. You can say you're sorry, but the holes will always be there. Remeber this, and think about what you say and do."

The boy learned.
~~~~~