THE TALE OF CRACKED POT
I have heard this
story times without number, I heard it again on my way to work this morning and
it was as interesting and touching as the first time I heard the story. It is a
tale of two pots one with a crack and the other without any crack: It is given below:
“A water bearer in
India had two large pots, each hung on each end of a pole which he carried
across his neck. One of the pots had a crack in it, and 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 master’s house. The cracked pot arrived
only half full.
For a full two years,
this went on daily, with the bearer delivering only one and a half pots full of
water to his master's house. Of course, the perfect pot was proud of its
accomplishments ... perfect to the end 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 of what it had been made to do.
After two 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, and I want to apologize to
you."
"Why?"
asked the bearer. "What are you ashamed of?"
"I have been
able, for these past two years, to deliver only half my load because this crack
in my side causes water to leak out all the way back to your master's
house. Because of my flaws, you have to do all of this work, and you
don't get full value from your efforts," the pot said.
The water bearer felt
sorry for the old cracked pot, and in his compassion he 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 old cracked pot took notice of the sun warming the beautiful
wild flowers on the side of the path, and this cheered it some. But at
the end of the trail, it still felt bad because it had leaked out half its
load, and so again, the pot apologized to the bearer for its failure.
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 took advantage of it. I planted flower seeds on
your side of the path, and every day while we walk back from the stream, you've
watered them. For two years I have been able to pick these beautiful
flowers to decorate my master's table. Without you being just the way you
are, he would not have had this beauty to grace his house."
There are
some key points for me in this story. These are:
- There is no need to brood over a bit of imperfection, It does not necessarily limit your potentials;
- Behind every imperfection, there is a bright side, and we only need to look at our environment critically to identify it;
- Because you feel someone’s life is perfect does not mean they have more potentials than you;
- There is need for you to talk about your issues at times to realize your potentials.
- Help people around you (friends, family, colleagues, etc) to realize their potentials (it took that woman to realize the benefit of the leakage in the pot and put the weakness of the pot to a creative and positive use)
As you move
on in our daily lives from this day forward, I want you to know that it is
important for you to know that a bit of imperfection is a part of life and does
not necessarily limit your potentials.
Comments
Post a Comment