Once, there was a young potter who had two large pots. He used them to bring water from the nearby stream. He would hang them on the two ends of a pole which he carried on his neck.
One of the pots had a small crack in it, while the other pot was perfect. At the end of the long walk from the stream to the house, the cracked pot arrived only half full. The other perfect pot was always full.
This went on daily for a couple of years. The young potter would bring home only one and a half pots of water.
After a while, the perfect pot became proud of its accomplishments. It became haughty and started ignoring the cracked pot. And the poor cracked pot became more and more ashamed of its own imperfection. It became miserable day by day, as it could do only half of what it was supposed to do.
One day, the cracked pot decided to speak with the young potter. As the potter was filling it by the stream, the cracked pot spoke up sadly, “I am ashamed of myself because this crack in my side causes water to leak out on the way to your house. I think you should throw me away now and make a new pot to carry water in it.”
The young potter smiled and said, “Did you notice
that there are flowers on your side of the path, but not on the side of the other pot? That is because I have always known about your flaw, so I planted seeds on your side of the path. And every day while we walk back, you water them unknowingly.”
The cracked pot was surprised to know this.
“I have been able to pick these beautiful flowers to decorate my home. Without you being just the way
you are, there would not be such beauty to grace the house.” added the young potter, looking at the cracked pot with affection.
The cracked pot felt very happy that day. It felt that its life had some purpose after all.
The perfect pot heard the young potter’s conversation with the cracked pot and realised how wrong it was in being proud of its accomplishments.
Each one of us is different. When we look for good in everyone, our life becomes very interesting and rewarding.
