There’s a story told about a boy who would often lose his temper. One day, his mother bought him a hammer and a bag of nails and said, “Son, every time you lose your temper, I want you to go to the backyard and bang a nail into the wooden fence.”
And so that’s what he did. One day, he banged three nails. Another day, five. The next day, he banged six. The day after that, he only hammered one nail in the fence.
Finally, days later, he came to his mother and said, “Mommy, Mommy, today I didn’t lose my temper even once. I didn’t have to bang any nails into the fence.”
And his mother said, “Come with me, my son.”
She took him outside and said, “Now I want you to take the other side of the hammer and pull out all the nails from the fence.” And he did the hard work it took to pull out all the nails.
When the boy was done, his mother said, “Tell me, what do you see?”
“I see the fence has many holes in it.” He answered.
“That’s exactly right. This is the lesson I want to share with you. When you lose your temper, get angry, or raise your voice at someone, even if you apologize afterwards, you’ll leave a scar. It’s just like pulling a nail out of the fence. You still leave a hole in their heart. Therefore, make sure never to lose your temper.”
Make it a conscious habit. Stop yourself when you’re reaction is to lose your temper. You’ll find that after a while, you’ll be in full control of your temper. The antidote to anger is a strong mindset.