If you look for perfection in everything, you’re bound to be disappointed.
Instead – and even when some things are flawed in inconvenient ways – we must learn to accept them. And beyond that, we should learn to appreciate what it is they might add to the world.
In this fable, a leaky bucket should make a water-bearer’s job more difficult. But he chooses to make the most of it. And as a result, he uses that flaw to make his world more beautiful.
It’s an important lesson for all of us – since the world is never quite perfect. And learning to accept the imperfect will make us all more resilient in the end.
Scroll down below to read the charming story.
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Long ago, there was a water bearer whose job was to carry water from the stream all the way to a man’s house far down the road – every single day.
The water bearer used the same two pots for every journey.
Each pot hung at the end of the pole that he would carry across his neck.
One of the pots was absolutely perfect and always delivered a full portion of water. The other pot had a crack in it, would constantly leak out water, and when the water bearer arrived at the end of his journey, it would only be half full.
For over two years, the water bearer would make his trip daily. Each time, the water bearer would deliver only one and a half pots full of water to the man’s house.
The perfectly round and flawless pot was proud of itself for always delivering a full pot, doing its job perfectly. Meanwhile, the imperfect, cracked pot felt ashamed of itself, sad, because it could only accomplish half of what it was made to do.
One day, while down by the stream, the cracked pot spoke to the water bearer. “I’m so ashamed of myself,” it said. “This crack makes me leak water all the way down the road. I’m never able to be full. I feel so…so…useless.”
The water bearer smiled and replied, “Don’t feel ashamed. Haven’t you noticed all of the beautiful flowers growing on your side of the road? Haven’t you noticed that there no flowers on the other side? I know about your flaw, and I appreciate your flaw.”
“I have been planting flower seeds on your side of the road, and every single day, you have been watering them. For the past two years, I’ve picked these flowers and set them on my dinner table.”
‘Without you, being exactly as you are, doing exactly what you do, as well as you do it, my family would not enjoy such regular beauty in our home.”
Everyone has their own unique flaws. Each of us is a cracked pot. However, that’s what makes us unique and beautiful. Embrace who you are because you’re perfect in your imperfect way.
What you consider a flaw may be considered a blessing by another. You bring a beauty to the world that no one else can.
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