Flaws and Cracks

A sweet friend of mine forwarded the following to me and I wanted to share with all of you. My friends. We all need a reminder every now and then that not everything is perfect nor would we want it to be. How else would we learn and grow?

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." Remember that each

of us has our own unique flaw which also has its own

blessings. It's the cracks and flaws we each have that

make our lives together so very interesting and rewarding.

I love you all, cracks or not.