Nails in the Fence

First of all, let me preface this post by saying I am SO SORRY for not blogging! I just haven't had anything interesting to say lately.

I do have some exciting news! Today I got to be the main teacher in the class of 29 kids I'm a Compliance Teacher in. The main teacher had to go do some science camp thing for the day so I was left in charge with someone else assisting me with things like basically watching out for the kids with bad behavior and stuff. Being the teacher in charge today was exhilarating and felt amazing! If I wasn't going to grad school to be a School Psychologist and the job market for teachers wasn't so bad right now, I would jump on getting certified and just try to get my own classroom. I really think I'm going to work on getting certified to teach Elementary level and Special Ed in case one day I'd like to "tinker" around with teaching.

Now to an interesting story that teaches us the power of words (with a short preface of my own).
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I heard this story years and years ago. Once again, my dad made me aware of this story when I was a teenager and had problems with saying hurtful things out of anger. The lesson in this story is that words have power and should not be taken lightly; especially when speaking out of anger. He has always taught me to never make decisions or say things when I am emotionally compromised.

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 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. 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.” 

The little boy then understood how powerful his words were. He looked up at his father and said “I hope you can forgive me father for the holes I put in you.”

“Of course I can,” said the father.
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Next time you are angry and are about to say something hurtful, think to yourself: am I going to say this just because I'm angry? Is it going to have harmful effects to someone I love? Am I going to unnecessarily wound someone who loves me/I love?

Words have immense power- use them wisely. 

(I still have to work on this almost daily!)