An elderly 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 must take each person for what they are and look for the
good in them.
To all of my crackpot family and friends, have a great New
Year and remember to be very thankful for all our flaws, because without them,
we'd all just be perfect, boring people.