Nails 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 lost his temper at all. He told his father about it and the father suggested that the boy now pull out one nail each day the 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, the 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."

I love that story and it reminds me that words are very powerful indeed. And the ones we say in anger seem to be the most powerful. No one can really see the pain they cause but the person you hurt with them, they feel it every day and they carry that burden daily as well. I realize that because I have this affinity for words I don't ever feel the slightest need to get violent because I feel that you can really hurt someone so much more with words. Not just the mere word itself but the passionate fervor with which you express them. You can really bring words to life with your delivery. I realize that there have been far too many times in my life when I have used my words to hurt others and I have to say reading this and typing it for you kind of slapped me in the face a little bit. How can I have words like these in my realm of thought and yet turn so easily to my cornucopia of words to belittle or hurt someone? So I am going to try to tame that part of myself as much as possible. I know it may be a challenge at times because for me it has always been a defense mechanism but it's not right or good and I need to show you that by leading the way. I need to show you that the only way your words mean something is if you put them to good use. It's easy to be bad, or mean and so much more difficult to keep grace under pressure and treat everyone kindly even when you don't feel so kind yourself. It's little things like these that I feel make a person extraordinary. So when I am feeling the need next time to go grab onto some some condescending, facetious, or obnoxious commentary I will remember this story and try to be kind instead. And I will always, always, always try my very best to of the utmost kindness to you. I want your world to be filled with beautiful words and pristine fences! I love you.