The Cracked Pot
In a land far away, many years ago, a water-bearer
had two large pots which he carried across his neck,
each one hung from the ends of a pole.  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 walk from the stream to the house, the
cracked pot arrived only half full.  This went on daily
for a long time, with the bearer delivering only one
and a half pots full of water to his house.

Of course, the perfect pot was proud of its
accomplishments, perfect for which it was made.  But
the poor cracked pot was ashamed of its own
imperfection, and miserable that it was able to
accomplish only half of what it had been made to do.  
After nearly two years of what it perceived to be a
bitter failure, it spoke to the water-bearer one day by
the stream.

"I am so ashamed of myself because this crack in my
side causes water to leak out all the way back to your
house.  How I wish I was perfect like the other pot."

The bearer said to the pot, "Have you noticed that
there are beautiful flowers only on your side of the
path going home, and not on the other pot's side?  
That's because I have always known about your flaw,
and I planted flower seeds on your side of the path,
and every day when we're walking back, you've
watered them.  For all this time, I have been able to
pick these colorful flowers to decorate our home.  
Without you being just exactly the way you are, there
would not be this beauty to grace our house."

Moral:  Each of us has our own unique flaws.  We're all
cracked pots!  But it's the cracks and flaws we each
have that make our lives together interesting and
rewarding.  We just need to take each person for what
they are and look for the good in them ... and trust
that they will do the same for us.

-- Author Unknown
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http://www.thepastwhispers.com/CrackedPot.html


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