PAKU

Pernah ada anak lelaki dengan watak buruk. Ayahnya memberi dia sekantung penuh paku, dan menyuruh memaku satu batang paku di pagarpekarangan setiap kali dia kehilangan kesabarannya atau berselisih paham dengan orang lain.

Hari pertama dia memaku 71 batang di pagar. Pada minggu-minggu berikutnya dia belajar untuk menahan diri, dan jumlah paku yang dipakainya berkurang dari hari ke hari. Dia mendapatkan bahwa lebih gampang menahan diri daripada memaku di pagar. Akhirnya tiba hari ketika dia tidak perlu lagi memaku sebatang paku pun dan dengan gembira di sampaikannya hal itu kepada ayahnya. Ayahnya kemudian menyuruhnya mencabut sebatang paku dari pagar setiap hari bila dia berhasil menahan diri/bersabar.

Hari-hari berlalu dan akhirnya tiba harinya dia bisa menyampaikan kepada ayahnya bahwa semua paku sudah tercabut dari pagar. Sang ayah membawa anaknya ke pagar dan berkata :

"Anakku, kamu sudah berlaku baik, tetapi coba lihat betapa banyak lubang yang ada di pagar. Pagar ini tidak akan kembali seperti semula. Kalau kamu berselisih paham atau menyakiti orang lain, hal itu selalu meninggalkan luka seperti pada pagar. Kau bisa menusukkan pisau di punggung orang dan mencabutnya kembali, tetapi akan meninggalkan luka. Tak peduli berapa kali kau meminta maaf/menyesal, lukanya tetap akan tertinggal. Luka melalui ucapan/tingkah laku sama perihnya seperti luka fisik."

Kawan adalah perhiasan yang langka (apalagi yang lebih dari itu). Mereka membuatmu tertawa dan memberimu semangat. Mereka bersediamendengarkan jika itu kau perlukan, mereka menunjang dan membuka hatimu. Tunjukkanlah kepada teman- temanmu betapa kau menyukai mereka.



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There was a boy who was always losing his temper. His father gave him a bag full of nails and said to him, “My son, I want you to hammer a nail into our garden fence every time you need to direct your anger against something and you lose your temper.”

So the son started to follow his father’s advice. On the first day he hammered in 37 nails, but getting the nails into the fence was not easy, so he started trying to control himself when he got angry. As the days went by, he was hammering in less nails, and within weeks he was able to control himself and was able to refrain from getting angry and from hammering nails. He came to his father and told him what he had achieved. His father was happy with his efforts and said to him, “But now, my son, you have to take out a nail for every day that you do not get angry.”

The son started to take out the nails for each day that he did not get angry, until there were no nails left in the fence.

He came to his father and told him what he had achieved. His father took him to the fence and said, “My son, you have done well, but look at these holes in the fence. This fence will never be the same again.” Then he add, “When you say things in a state of anger, they leave marks like these holes on the hearts of others. You can stab a person and withdraw the knife but it doesn’t matter how many times you say ‘I’m sorry,’ because the wound will remain."