You can probably remember a time when someone did or said something that hurt your feelings and before you knew it, harsh words were thrown at them or even worse.
You really didn't mean what you said.
And now your friend won't talk to you.
SELF-CONTROL is something children (and some adults) have a hard time not only understanding what it means, but also how to maintain it when LIFE frustrates them. The story below is about one young boy and the scars that can be left behind when we choose to lose our SELF-CONTROL...
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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 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 pulls 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.”
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Writers aren't the only people with power over words. What we say can cut just as deeply as a knife and the hurt feelings left behind can take a life time to heal.
The next time someone in your life accidentally does something that hurts your feelings, just stop and think...
HOH?
Hurt.
Or.
Heal.
The choice is yours. You can either exercise SELF-CONTROL and rein in your temper, or you can spend time looking at the scars your words may have caused...
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