A water bearer in China had two large pots. He used to carry those pots, each hung on two ends of a pole to fetch water from a stream nearby to his house. One of the pots had a crack in it, while the other pot was perfect. At the end of long walk from stream to house, the cracked pot could deliver only half water. It went on for two years daily and the cracked pot could deliver only half full water of what was collected and filled from the stream.
The perfect pot was proud of its accomplishments since it did what it was made for. The poor cracked pot was ashamed of its own imperfection and lamented that he could not do what the other pot could do for its owner.
After two years, the imperfect pot spoke to the owner one day by the stream. "I am ashamed of myself, and I want to apologize to you. I could not ever deliver full water at your house since crack in me caused leak of half water on way to your house. It is due to my flaws, you don't get full value of your efforts. You should discard me now."
The bearer said to the pot, "Did you ever notice that flowers are blooming only on one side of path. There is no flower on the other side of path. I always knew about your flaw and I planted flower seeds on your side of the path. Every day on my way back, you watered those flower seeds and made them blooming now. I could carry those beautiful flowers to decorate my house. Without you, being just the way you are, there could be no flowers to decorate my house and the path.”
Moral of the story:
Each of us has our own flaws. We are all like cracked pots. But it is the cracks and flaws, which makes us unique. We help and enrich others unknowingly by making their lives interesting and worth living. We have to take each person with their flaws, as they are and look for goodness in them. Blessed are the flexible cause they will not bent out of shape. In short, there is beauty in the broken.
