aerianya | The Cracked Pot

A water bearer in Madras, India had two large pots, each hung on
the end of a pole which he carried across his neck. One of the pots had a
crack in it, and 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 master's
house. The cracked pot arrived only half full.

For a full two years this went on daily, with the bearer delivering only one
and a half pots of water to his master's house. Of course the perfect pot
was proud of its accomplishments, perfect to the end 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 two years of what it perceived to be a bitter failure, it spoke to the
water bearer one day by the stream. "I am ashamed of myself, and I want to
apologize to you."
"Why?" asked the bearer. "What are you ashamed of?"

"I have been able, for these past two years, to deliver only half my load
because this crack in my side causes water to leak out all the way back to
your master's house. Because of my flaws, you have to do all of this work,
and you don't get full value from your efforts," the pot said.

The water bearer felt sorry for the old cracked pot, and in his compassion he
said, "As we return to the master's house, I want you to notice the beautiful
flowers along the path." Indeed, as they went up the hill, the old cracked
pot took notice of the sun warming the beautiful wild flowers on the side of
the path, and this cheered it some. But at the end of the trail, it still
felt bad because it had leaked out half its load, and, so again, it
apologized to the bearer for its failure.

The bearer said to the pot, "Did you notice that the flowers were only on
your side of the path, but not on the other pot's side? That's because I
have always known about your flaw, and I took advantage of it. I planted
flower seeds on your side of the path, and every day while we walked back
from the stream, you've watered them. For two years I have been able to pick
these beautiful flowers to decorate my master's table. Without you being
just the way you are, he would not have this beauty to grace his house."

The moral of this story: Each of us has our own unique flaws. We are all
cracked pots. But it's the cracks and flaws we each have that make our lives
together so interesting and rewarding. You take each person for what they
are, and look for the good in them. There is a lot of good out there. There
is a lot of good in you!

I don't know who wrote this, I found it in my SS files while doing some organizing, but it rings so very true to me.