“Recipe for Rightful Living: The Nails in the Fence" by Isaac Oluyi

True to my promise, I have decided to share another story with you today from “Recipe for Rightful Living”. Today, I will beam my searchlight on ‘Anger’. Anger is a very bad emotion. Despite the fact that it is bad, everyone of us still gets angry from time to time. What do we do when we are angry? React or respond? Please take time to go through the following story and see the best way to handle anger. I hope you enjoy it.

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've 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 and a verbal wound is just as bad as a physical one.'

Moral Lesson

Do not react to situations when you are angry, rather respond to it by remaining calm in the face of provocation.