To all my crackpot friends

I receive and gladly forward, with a sympathetic thought to the galaxy of borderline physicists out there: 

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.

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

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