A Lesson About Anger: "The Fence"

The Lesson from the Nails

There once was a little boy who had a very bad temper.

His father gave him a bag of nails and a hammer and walked him over to the fence in the side yard.

His father told him that every time he lost his temper from that day forward, he was to hammer a nail into the fence. 

The first day, the boy had driven thirty-seven nails into the fence. 

Over the next few weeks, as he learned to control his anger, the number of nails he hammered daily gradually dwindled down. The boy had discovered it was much easier to hold his temper, than to drive 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 one nail out for every day he was able to hold his temper. 

The days passed and, finally, the young boy was able to tell his father that all the nails were gone.

The father took his son by the hand and once again led him over to the fence. He said to the boy, “You have done well, my son, but look at all of the holes in the fence. This fence will never be the same again. 

I wanted you to learn this lesson, because it is the same way throughout life.  

If we put a knife into someone, even if we immediately pull it back out, it won’t matter how many times we say I’m sorry.  The wound will always be there.

It is the same when we say things in anger.  The words can never be taken back.  Although invisible, they also leave a scar, just like the scar on this fence. Always make sure you control your temper when you are tempted to say something you might regret later."

[Author Unknown]


“A writer soon learns that easy to read is hard to write.” ~CJ Heck