A friend once told me about a fable his mom read to him when he was a child.

In short, there was a little boy who had a bad temper. Every time he would do something wrong, his father would hammer a nail into a fence. When the boy realized how many nails were in the fence, he decided to work on his temper.

For every time the boy did something good, the father would remove a nail. When there were no nails left, the boy was happy, except there were still holes remaining. The father taught the son that when you do something to hurt someone, you may be able to apologize, but you can never remove the scar that it will leave.

We continuously hurt ourselves and others with actions and words. We tend to make promises when we’re happy, and quick decisions when we’re upset.

So, why don’t we take more time to think before we say or do?

There are many things I wish I would not have done, and even more things I wish I would have never said.

All we can do now is learn and be more conscientious for the moments to come.