NAIL IN THE FENCE
There once was a little boy who had a bad temper. His Father gave him a bag of nails and told him that
every time he lost his temper, he must hammer a nail into the back of the fence. The first day the boy had driven 37 nails
into the fence. Over the next few weeks, as he learned to control his anger, the number of nails hammered daily gradually
dwindled down. He discovered it was easier to hold his temper than to drive those 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 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 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 man and draw it out. It won't matter how many times you say I'm sorry, the wound
is still there." Remember, some words you can’t take back.
On making mistakes……..
Every day when I wake up I know I am going to make mistakes. Hopefully I’ll catch them quickly before they become big mistakes, and hopefully they won’t be the same mistakes I made yesterday.
But making mistakes doesn’t make
me any different from anyone else.
It’s part of being human.
………………………………………………………………….
What’s important is what do I do once I realize I’ve made a mistake? Do I stop and own it? And if I need to, do I make amends?
Dr
Beverly Ann Dexter