Cracked Pot
Author Unknown
A man in India carried two large water pots attached to the ends of a pole. One of the pots was cracked. The other pot was perfect and always reached its destination full of water. The cracked pot was never more than half full.
This being a magical kingdom, the pots were capable of talking and expressing emotion. The perfect pot was proud of its accomplishments. The cracked pot was ashamed of its imperfections and felt it was able to accomplish only half of what it had been made to do.
After two years of what appeared to be bitter failure, the cracked pot spoke to the water carrier. "I am ashamed of myself and I want to apologize to you."
"Why?" asked the water carrier. "What are you ashamed of?"
"I have been able, for the past two years, to deliver only half of my potential load because of the crack in my side that causes water to leak out all along the path to the master's house. Because of my flaws, you have to work harder, and you don't get full value from your efforts."
The water carrier felt sorry for the cracked pot and 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 cracked pot noticed the sun warming the beautiful wild flowers. But at the end of the trail the cracked pot still felt badly because it had leaked out half of its load, and so it again apologized to the carrier for its failure.
The carrier said to the pot, "Did you notice that the flowers were only on your side of the path, and not on the other pot's side? That's because I have always been aware of your flaw, and I took advantage of it.
I planted seeds on your side of the path, and every day while we walked back from the stream, you watered them. For two years I have been able to pick these beautiful flowers to decorate my master's house. Without you being the way you are, he would not have this beauty to grace his house."
(Editor's Note: Perhaps the author is legion. Anyone of us could have written this story. The moral is that we are uniquely flawed. We're all cracked pots! But it's the flaws that make our lives together so interesting and rewarding. Think how boring and uninteresting our lives would be were it not for the "crackpots" in our lives.)