How much is anger worth?

Have you ever spoken in anger and wished a thousand times that you could take the words back? Well about a year ago I had just that happen to me. It was one of those days where everything that could go wrong did. I carried around with me all day the additude that the glass was half empty. Then the day was reaching to a early end where the bruiser of all bruiser's happened. You know the one thing that happens that is the last straw, the ice on your cake of your bad day. I got into a heated fight with my sister.

Yes, that is right, like all sisters we have fights time to time. This fight though was diffrent, it was one of those momments that I looked up at her and said the one thing I knew without a doubt would hurt her the most. What I said is not as important as what she said back to me. Like all lessons that I learn in life I thought this one important more so then most.

Let me go off on a tangeom just for a moment then I will get back to the important lesson. I was one of the many americans that was letting every little upset bother me and was leading the road to am early grave with all the stress and high blood pressure. I was letting what others say get to me and was speaken without much thought to others. That is why I thought this lesson worth shareing here.

Ok, now back to the important part. My sister looked at me and after the longest pause asked, " Did you mean what you just said? " ofcourse by then I had thought about what I had just said. I knew I did not mean it I was just strikeing out in anger. I looked at her and said, " no " as I hung my head in shame. She looked back at me and sighed and then said " I have two way's I could react to this. I could get angry and strike back or I could share a story with you that a friend once shared with me. So this is what she told me.

Once there was a little boy that would get angry over stuff and strike out in anger at his dad. Then one day his dad took the little boy to the garage and got a hammer and a box of nails down. He then took the boy to a tree in there back yard. He looked at his son and said son ever time you get angry and say something I want you to hammer a nail in this tree. So over the next month the boy hammerd nails into the tree. Then one day the little boy came to his dad and said dad I have not had to hammer a nail in the tree for over a week now. The dad said to the boy that is great son. Now every time that you would have gotten angry but do not I will let you remove a nail. So over the next few weeks the boy removed nails when ever he did not get angry in the same situatiion till one day proud he came to his dad and said daddy all the nails are removed from the tree. The boy was beaming at this acomplishment. His dad directed the boy over to the tree and said son do you see the wholes in the tree left from the nails. The boy looked and said yes daddy. The dad said well son the real lesson here is not the nails but the marks left by the nails. Ever time you get angry and hurt someone even if you can remove that hurt there is still a mark left on that persons heart.

After my sister got done with this story I sat there for the longest time thinking about this and realised that I had an issue with anger and needed to get control of myself. That was the last time I ever spoke without thought. I wanted to post this for all that spoke with out thought or had children that did. If you are unsure what to do about that anger I hope after reading this it will help you.