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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 walk 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 2 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? 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.
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