Inspirational Story - The Water Bearer

Hi frenz...

Came across this story and thought that it was real meaningful... tell me what you think of it... here it is:

There was once a water bearer serving a master. He had two large pots, each hung on each end of a pole, which he carried across his neck.

One of the pots had a crack in it. And 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 master's house, the cracked pot arrived only half full.

For a full 2 years this went on daily, with the bearer delivering only one and a half pots full of water in his master's house.

Of course, the perfect pot was proud of its accomplishments, perfect to the end 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 the cracked pot 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."

"Why?" asked the bearer. "What are you ashamed of?"

"I have been able, for these past two years, to deliver only half my load because this crack in my side causes water to leak out all the way back to your master's house. Because of my flaws, you have to do all of this work, and you don't get full value from your efforts," the pot said.

The water bearer smiled at the old cracked pot and said, "As we return to the master's house, I want you to notice the beautiful flowers along the path."

Indeed as they went up the hill, the old cracked pot took notice of the sun warming the beautiful wild flowers on the side of the path and this cheered it up somehow. But at the end of tile trail, it still felt bad because it had leaked out half its load, and so again it apologized to the bearer for its failure.

The bearer said to the pot, "Did you notice that there were flowers only on YOUR side of your path, but not on the other pot's side? That's because I have always known about your flaw, and I took advantage of it. I planted flower seeds on your side of the path, and every day while we walk back from the stream, you've watered them.

For 2 years I have been able to pick these beautiful flowers to decorate my master's table. Without you being just the way you are, he would not have this beauty to grace his house."
Well, frenz.. as we go thru life, we often find ourselves far from what is expected of us... we thus feel useless and bothered by our own imperfection... but hey frenz... we are what we are... there are things that we can work and improve ourselves... but there are juz things that we can't... we can't choose the way we look nor the things that we are juz a part of us...

So... there are two lessons from this little story. Everyone has flaws but that doesn't mean that you should be ashamed of yourself. Let the the better side of you shine and accept the flaw in yourself. Likewise, like the water bearer, accept the flaw in others and see their flaws as a beauty in their own way.

If you live your life based on what others expects of us, then it'll be sad coz we spend so much of our lives chasing some other's rainbow that we forgot to find ourselves. Remember, the world is a mere reflection of what we make of it. We can make a difference to our lives. Don't just resigned to it...
(KPNN-Classics)