Those Chinese and their fables!

Naked Leader Week – 197 (w/c Monday 12 March 2007)

Those Chinese and their fables!

Thank you for all the Chinese stories, quotes and anecdotes that followed from the special Chinese New Year a few weeks back. A special thank you to those who sent through contributions in Chinese!

I have read through them all, and selected this one sent in by Matt Milton:
An elderly Chinese woman had two large pots, each hung on the ends of a pole, which she carried across her neck.     

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

    For a full two years this went on daily, with the woman bringing home only one and a half pots of water.  Of course, the perfect pot was proud of its accomplishments.  But the poor cracked pot was ashamed of its own imperfection, and miserable that it could only do half of what it had been made to do.

      After 2 years of what it perceived to be bitter failure, it spoke to the woman one day by the stream. “I am ashamed of myself, because this crack in my side causes water to leak out all the way back to your house.”

  The old woman smiled, “Did you notice that there are flowers on your side of the path, but not on the other pot’s side?” “That’s because I have always known about your flaw, so I planted flower seeds on your side of the path, and every day while we walk back, you water them.  For two years I have been able to pick these beautiful flowers to decorate the table. 

Without you being just the way you are, there would not be this beauty to grace the house.

Matt adds:

Each of us has our own unique flaw.  But it’s the cracks and flaws we each have that make our lives together so very interesting and rewarding. You’ve just got to take each person for what they are and look for the good in them.

SO, to all of my crackpot friends, have a great day and remember to smell the flowers on your side of the path!

Thank you Matt, for reminding us that we are named, called and labelled many things in our life, and the biggest miracle of all is not these labels – that we are good or bad, black or white, big or small – it is that we are.

And what a miracle that is, in itself

We are. I am. You are.

Always know and rejoice, whoever you are, you are you

With love

David

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