The Two Pots

A water bearer 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 masters 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 in his masters house. 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, 'Did you notice that there were flowers only on your side of your path, but not on the other pot's side? That's because I have always known about your flaw (uniqueness), and so had 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 masters table. Without you being just the way you are, we would not have had these beautiful flowers''

Each of us has our own unique flaws, and it is these flaws which make as so unique and special.

"So much of our lives is given over to the consideration of our imperfections that there is no time to improve our imaginary virtues. The truth is we only perfect our vices, and man is a worse creature when he dies than he was when he was born." - Edward Dahlberg