Ointment

[doodlemaier]

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 post. 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 post....
Finally the day came when the boy didn't lose his temper at all. He told his father about it and his father suggested that the boy now pull out one nail for each day that he was able to hold his temper.

The time 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 post. The fence will never be the same. When you say things in anger, they leave a scar just like this one.

A verbal wound is as bad as a physical one. Friends are a very rare jewel indeed. They make you smile and encourage you to succeed. They lend an ear, they share words of praise and they always want to open their hearts to us."Please forgive me if I have ever left a hole in your fence post. Time Passed and things change but the memory's still there!!!!!

Comments

[whypnk.livejournal.com]

that was a very cool anecdote. i sure could've used a parent like that one...

[deansavatar.livejournal.com]

This was actually one of the very first spam or Fwd'ed to death emails that I received in the wee-early days of the innerwebz. I s'pose for most people that's exactly the kind of flotsam this is. But for me at the time I guess it kind of solved something, or laid something to rest for me by encapsulating it in language. I felt like this message had been a confirmation of my own triumphs overcoming anger issues waiting out in the ether for a huge opportunity like globally networked computers to finally be able to reach me. It slipped around my attention filter before I learned not to get excited about receiving email ;)

[the-autumn-knew.livejournal.com]

you alright there, chief?

[deansavatar.livejournal.com]

I think so. I've been practicing with my anger for many years, now (particularly, since this anecdote showed up as spam in my e-mail)and I've made a lot of progress. I've even learned to "sit" in zen and be the anger, even when I'm in the throws of it (which is really the only practical time to do so). I guess there's always room to fall down though, and I had a bit of a tear on Wednesday.