HOLES IN A WALL

"A quick temper will make a fool of you soon enough." - Bruce Lee

Holes in a Wall

There was once a little boy who was talented, and extremely bright. The kind of person everyone would normally have wanted as friend. When he got angry, he usually said and did very hurtful things. He seemed to have little regard for people around him. Even friends. So, naturally, he had few. “But,” he told himself, “that just shows how stupid most people are!”

As he grew, his parents became concerned about this personality flaw, and pondered long and hard about what they could do. Finally, the father had an idea, he struck a bargain with his son. He gave him a bag of nails, and a BIG hammer. “Whenever you lose your temper,” he told the boy, “I want you to really let it out. Just take a nail and drive it into the oak boards of that old fence out back. Hit that nail as hard as you can!” By the end of the first day, he had driven 37 nails into the fence. Gradually, over a period of weeks, the number dwindled. Holding his temper proved to be easier than driving nails into the fence! Finally the day came when the boy didn’t lose his temper at all. He felt mighty proud as he told his parents about that accomplishment.