CRACKED POTS
A water bearer in India had two large pots, each hung on the ends of a
pole which he carried across his 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 walk from the stream to the 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 house. Of course/ the perfect
pot was proud of its accomplishments, perfect 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 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, and I want
to apologize to you. I have been able to deliver only half my load because
this crack in my side causes water to leak out all the way back to your
house. Because of my flaws, you have to do all of this work, and you
don’t get full value from your efforts”.
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 as we walk back, you’ve watered 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.”
Moral: Each of us has our own unique flaws. We’re all cracked pots. But
it’s 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. Blessed are the flexible, for
they shall not be bent out of shape. Remember to appreciate all the
different people in your life!
Ah, what a beautiful story 
Thank you
But next time, please leave the “moral” part away, it kind of spoils the idea 
Nice story. Tolerating someone’s flaws only goes so far, what if someone’s flaw involves getting drunk and crashing an oil tanker on an Alaskan shoreline, and as a result, many fishermen lose their livelyhoods and a pristine coastline is ruined for a very long time. There’s tolerance and then there’s tolerance. I see what you trying to say, but there is a time to say enough “your behaviour is unacceptable”. Another example is the case of the crooked CEOs who fudge financial reports and accounting, and as a result many thousands of workers lose their jobs because of their unscrupulous and unethical behaviour. Do you accept their flaws?, I don’t think so. You throw them in jail, seize their assets, and re-distribute them to the laid-off workers. The list can go on, and on to make the point, but I think you can the other side of the argument. I am hard core, that’s my flaw, sorry.
There is a great distance between personal flaws and gross negligence or purely criminal behaviour.
I can only guess that you’re refering to the Exon Valdez oil spill in Prince William sound? Some facts, Joe H. wasn’t at the helm at the time of the grounding, but in his cabin, the people that were at the helm were fully qualified to operate the vessel, as the master of the vessel Joe H. was held fully accountable for the grounding, as is the norm. for the marine industries (the same as the captain of the nuclear sub that surfaced under the japan fishing boat killing a number of people). According to a news paper article I read Joe H. has fulfilled all of his obligations (unlike Exon) resulting from his prosecution following the incident.
My brother was one of the fishermen that was hurt by the spill, if I remember correctly he made four years revenue during the first summer of the spill cleanup renting his boat out as a service station for the smaller boats (he had a large walk in freezer and a 2000 gal fuel tank with a meter for fueling other boats). the loss of revenue is more in talk than in fact, as a matter of fact fish farming by some Europeon countries (and others) has hurt the Alaskan fishing industry far worse than the oil spill, and will have a far longer effect on the local fishing industry, never mind the fishermen got fish farming outlawed in Alaska, in effect cutting their own throats.
I liked your cracked pot story. Lighten up guys here is a positive story take it as it was intended and try not to be so nit picky.
Paradox (the sometimes eternal optimist)
WE ARE ALL CRACK POTS?
how did you find out? sniff.
like it,
There is a great distance between personal flaws and gross negligence or purely criminal behaviour.
cree wrote:
what if someone’s flaw involves getting drunk and crashing an oil tanker on an Alaskan shoreline,I can only guess that you’re refering to the Exon Valdez oil spill in Prince William sound? Some facts, Joe H. wasn’t at the helm at the time of the grounding, but in his cabin, the people that were at the helm were fully qualified to operate the vessel, as the master of the vessel Joe H. was held fully accountable for the grounding, as is the norm. for the marine industries (the same as the captain of the nuclear sub that surfaced under the japan fishing boat killing a number of people). According to a news paper article I read Joe H. has fulfilled all of his obligations (unlike Exon) resulting from his prosecution following the incident.
My brother was one of the fishermen that was hurt by the spill, if I remember correctly he made four years revenue during the first summer of the spill cleanup renting his boat out as a service station for the smaller boats (he had a large walk in freezer and a 2000 gal fuel tank with a meter for fueling other boats). the loss of revenue is more in talk than in fact, as a matter of fact fish farming by some Europeon countries (and others) has hurt the Alaskan fishing industry far worse than the oil spill, and will have a far longer effect on the local fishing industry, never mind the fishermen got fish farming outlawed in Alaska, in effect cutting their own throats.
I’m so glad you said that, since I’m not close enough to the situation to speak up. Also, the damage was in a small area, and people all over the world still think Alaska is covered in oil, LOL.
I like the story, including the moral. Thanks!
Love Ingrid
Nice tale VelikM. 
Shame about the moral at the end though!
Just like at the end of every “He-Man: Master of the Universe” episode, along comes a moral to spoil the fun! :x
–
Brian
It sounds like a poster my parents have in the office I’m in. But it’s kind of religous, and the moral is right out in the end sentence. It isn’t even hidden, but it’s in a better hiding spot than VelikM’s, where it says the moral right there.
But the pot must not have eyes, because of the fact that it never noticed the flowers. Even though it probably has a mouth, because it can talk.
(Whoops–arrgh, I just reminded myself of “Shrek!” That movie sucked! --Hides from the oncoming war on himself)
The same with many people, they only see the flaw, and are blind to the good that comes with it.