Once upon a time there was a little boy who was talented, creative,
handsome, and extremely bright. A natural leader. The kind of person
everyone would normally have wanted on their team or project. But he was
also self-centered and had a very bad temper. When he got angry, he
usually said, and often did, some very hurtful things. In fact, he
seemed to have little regard for those 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 should do. Finally, the father had an idea. And 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!”
