Cracked Pots

I received the following via email. Thanks for sending it my way, Jay.

A water bearer in China had two large pots, each hung on the ends of a pole, which he carried across his neck. One pot had a crack in it, while the other pot was perfect and always delivered a full portion water.

At the end of the long walk from the stream to the house, the cracked pot arrived only half full. For two years this went on daily, with the bearer delivering only one and a half pots full of water to his house.

Of course, the perfect pot was proud of its accomplishments, 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 what it had been made to do.

After 2 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 because this crack in my side causes water to leak out all the way back to your house."

The bearer said to the pot, "Did you notice that there were flowers 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 planted flower seeds on your side of the path. Every day while we walk back, you've watered them. For two years I have been able to pick these beautiful flowers to decorate the table.

Without being just the way you are, there would not be this beauty to grace the house"

Moral...

Each of us has our own unique flaws. We are all cracked pots. But the cracks and flaws we each have that make our lives together so interesting and rewarding. You've just got to take each person for what they are, and look for the good in them.

Without our little faults, foibles, and quirks, the world would be a boring place. As STK reminded me with a laugh yesterday, I have a number of quirks (cracks). I like my water glass filled to within 1/8" of the rim; if it's not filled to that point, I add water. I'm addicted to Wasabi peas (organic and dye free). I experience withdrawals when I stop eating ice cream on a daily basis (I'm in the middle of another attempt). Who am I trying to kid? If there's something to which a person can be addicted, I'm probably addicted to it (or have been). When writing academically, I can't just "get those ideas out on paper." I agonize over every. single. sentence. The result is that I've become an incredibly slow writer. The upside is that I have very little technical editing, if any, at the end of the process. I am not a morning person. Anyone who talks to me before I've had my first 1/2 pot of coffee is a brave soul. Yet another quirk is my obsession with Green Lantern and Star Wars. I recently repainted on old dresser green so that it would match my framed Green Lantern posters. Two days ago, I bought the Clone Wars Animated Series action figure of Anakin Skywalker.