An elderly
Chinese woman had two large pots, each hung on the ends of a
pole which she
carried across her neck.
One of the pots had a crack in it while the
other pot was perfect and
always delivered a full portion of water.
At
the end of the long walks from the stream to the house, the cracked
pot
arrived only half full.
For a full two years this went on daily, with the
woman bringing home
only one and a half pots of water.
Of course , the
perfect pot was proud of its accomplishments.
But the poor cracked pot
was ashamed of its own imperfection, and
miserable that it could only do half
of what it had been made to do.
After two years of what it perceived to
be bitter failure, it spoke to
the woman one day by the stream "I am ashamed
of myself, because this
crack in my side causes water to leak out all the way
back to your
house."
The old woman smiled, "Did you notice that there
are flowers on your
side of the path, but not on the other pot's
side?"Â
"That's because I have always known about your flaw, so I planted
flower
seeds on your side of the path, and every day while we walk back,
you
water them."
"For two years I have been able to pick these
beautiful flowers to
decorate the table. Without you being just the way you
are, there would
not be this beauty to grace the house."
Each of us
has our own unique flaw. But it's the cracks and flaws we
each have that
make our lives together so very interesting and
rewarding.
You've just
got to take each person for what they are and look for the
good in
them.
SO, to all of my Crack Pot friends, have a great day and remember
to
smell the flowers on your side of the path!
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