Self Control
Long ago in a village, a farmer faced a recurring problem: his son grew angry easily and struggled to control his emotions. To teach him a practical lesson in self-control, the father asked him to hammer a nail into the barn fence every time anger rose.
On the first day he hammered 37 nails, and when he returned home, he felt a temporary sense of relief.
By the second day, 30 nails; the third day, 28. Days passed and the nails kept decreasing. The boy realized his anger mattered less, and after a month he no longer felt the urge to hammer. He returned to his father and announced that he could control his anger. The father smiled and said he should pull out every nail he had hammered. The son complied, and later said the task was finished.
Then the father led him to the fence. He pointed to the gaping holes and explained that anger leaves lasting scars much like those holes. Even if you apologize afterward, some wounds remain, and trust can be damaged beyond repair.
Read: The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People
Moral of the story
Managing anger is about taking control of your responses in the moment. Do not say anything in the heat of the moment and always think before you act. Once an action is taken, it can be hard to undo. Cultivating self-discipline, as discussed in Habits of Successful People, helps you stay calm under pressure. Remember to be true to yourself and to the people you meet, and learn from small daily changes that reduce anger, echoing ideas from Small Change has a Big Impact. Anger can hold you back; choose to let it go and build better relationships, similar to lessons in Story On Helping Others.
