May 2, 2011


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 walks 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 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.'

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.

I recieved this little story in an email from a friend and I  wanted to share it. If only we could all find some beauty in the everyday ups and downs we experience in our lives.

SO, to all of my crackpot friends, have a great day and remember to smell the flowers on your side of the path!

8 comments:

~mel said...

Amen to that! I think this is why I'm fat ~ If I weren't fat who would the skinny people have to compare themselves to??? That is my purpose, that's my story, and I'm sticking to it:)

TexWisGirl said...

nice.

laughing at mel's comment...

Anonymous said...

I'd never heard this story before, so thanks for sharing. I thought maybe it was going to be about an optimist (seeing the glass as half full) or a pessimist (seeing the glass half empty)

Kathy said...

Awwwww.... I love this! And this was the perfect day for me to read this. Thanks! Hope your day is delightful, my friend. - Kathy

Dar said...

I loved this story a while back and love it again today. Thanks for sharing, Cher. I know, I'm one of your crackpot friends, well sisters, just like Mel...oh, well, it is what it is.
BlessYourHeart

Fred Alton said...

My oh My! Thanks so much for posting this wonderful story. Since I have known for quite sometime now that I'm a cracked-pot - Hopefully I have spilt some water in the right places along my side of the path and there is some good that came of it. Beautiful. Thanks for the post.

Remington said...

That is great! Thank you so much for sharing!

Anonymous said...

No matter what flaws, we are still useful in some beautiful ways.

Nice blog.