Please forgive me if I have ever left a hole in your fence.

Some months ago I had the pleasure to meet Keith Ralfs who helped out at SmartMoves 2004 as a check in chick. Keith has been achieving amazing things with his Greenwig project - well done.

Last week Keith sent me a "National Friendship Week letter" - widely know as a urban myth on the net - you know pass this on or else stuff. My initial thoughts were to write to Keith and say, "There's no such thing as National Friendship Week." Instead I thought, "What does it matter - an excuse to tell people that you care is a good excuse."

And I that got me to have a look for other stories that had been sent under the pretext of The National Friendship Week, and The Nail Test was one. And with no particular reason to send it to you other than it is worth reading here it is. (Thanks Keith for getting me thinking.)

Nail In the Fence

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

There once was 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 drove 37 nails into the fence. Over the next few weeks, as he learned to control 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 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 father took his son by the hand and led him to the fence.

He said, "You have done well, my son, but look at the holes in the fence. The fence will never be the same. When you say things in anger, they leave a scar just like this one. You can put a knife in a man and draw it out. It won't matter how many times you say I'm sorry, the wound is still there."

A verbal wound is as bad as a physical one.
Friends are very rare jewels, indeed.
They make you smile and encourage you to succeed.
They lend an ear, they share words of praise
and they always want to open their hearts to us.

Show your friends how much you care. Send this to everyone you consider a Friend. If it comes back to you, then you'll know you have a circle of friends.

In friendship, I send this to you. Now send this to every friend you have, and to your family.

Please forgive me if I have ever left a hole in your fence.