we all have cracks
An Indian water carrier had two large jars which he hung at the ends of a pole and which he carried on his shoulders. One of the vessels had several cracks, while the other was perfect and held all the water at the end of the long walk, from the stream to his landlord’s house. But when he arrived, the broken vessel only had half the water.
For two whole years this was so daily. Of course, the perfect vessel was very proud of its achievements, since it knew it was perfect for the purposes for which it was created. But the poor cracked pot was so ashamed of its own imperfection and miserable that it could only do half of what it was supposed to do.
After two years, the broken jar spoke to the water carrier saying, “I am ashamed and I want to apologize to you because because of my cracks, you can only deliver half of my load and you only get half of the value you should receive.”
The saddened water carrier told him compassionately: “When we return home, I want you to notice the beautiful flowers that grow along the way.”
Thats how the jar did it. And indeed, she saw many beautiful flowers along the way; but in any case, she felt embarrassed because in the end, only half of the water that she had to carry was left inside her.
The water carrier then said to him: “Did you realize that flowers only grow on your side of the path? I have always known about your cracks, and I wanted to get the positive side out of it. I planted flower seeds along the entire path. where you go, and every day you have watered them, and for two years I have been able to pick these flowers to decorate my Master’s altar. If you were not exactly as you are, including your defects, it would not have been possible to create this beauty.”
Each of us has his own cracks. We are all cracked vessels, but we must know that there is always the possibility of taking advantage of the cracks to obtain good results…
Dedicated to all my friends, who take advantage of their cracks to grow beautiful gardens…
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