Nail in the fence - Part 1

My long-time friend Clement Ling is never short of wonderful goodies to share with me. Now residing in Australia, Clement has a good sense of humour. When I was in Australia, with Clement around, any gather-together would be more fun-filled and not short of laughters. Clement has just got that type of charisma to liven up a gathering.

We went to Australia together for further studies in Monash University. He exhibited to be mature in thinking and diplomatic in social contacts. As such, at times, Clement became my guru, guiding me through the initial part of my university life.

On Sept. 12, Clement e-mailed a very thought-provoking message to me. Too good not to be shared, I decided to put it through my blog.

NAIL IN THE FENCE

"Let us not pray for a lighter load but for stronger shoulders"

Make sure you read all the way down to the last sentence. (Most importantly the last sentence)

There was once 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 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 picture shows Clement Ling with his family in Australia.