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 walks from the stream

to the house, the cracked pot arrived only half full.

For 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 two 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.’

Moral of the Story:

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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