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."

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.

To all of my crackpot friends, Merry Christmas and Happy Hanukkah.

Dave (i know, i know, maudlin)