In our life story, we all have difficult situations, wounds, things that cause us shame, regrets, etc. We rarely stop to see that we are the people we are thanks to everything that has happened to us in life, both good and difficult things. Moreover, many times those difficult things in our lives are those that have most influenced our lives or the lives of those around us. We just have to stop to see those things and see them with different eyes. I invite you to read a story that shows us how things that are apparently not so good at first glance, can positively influence if we change our attitude to them.
A water carrier from India had two large vessels that hung at the ends of a stick that he carried over his shoulders.
One of the vessels had several cracks while the other was perfect. At the end of the long walk from the stream to the house of his employer, the broken vessel had only half the water while the other one had kept all the water. This was his daily routine for two years, of course, the perfect vessel was very proud of its achievements because it was perfect for the purposes for which it was created. The poor cracked pot was very ashamed of his own imperfection and he felt miserable because he could only do half of all that was supposed to be his obligation.
After two years, the broken container spoke to the carrier saying: “I am ashamed and I want to apologize to you because of my cracks, you can only deliver half of my load and you only get half the value you should.”
The water carrier responded compassionately: “ When we return home, I want you to notice the beautiful flowers that grow along the way.” The cracked vessel did as he said. And in fact, he saw many beautiful flowers along the way but either way, in the end, he felt ashamed. Only half of the water he had to carry remained inside him.
The man told him: “Did you notice that flowers only grow on your side of the road? I’ve always known about your cracks and wanted to take the positive side of it. I planted flower seeds all along the way from your side and every day you have watered them and for two years I have been able to collect these flowers to decorate the altar of my master. If you were not exactly how you are, with everything and your faults, it would not have been possible to create this beauty.”
Each one of us has its own cracks. We are all cracked vessels, but we must know that there is always the possibility of taking advantage of the cracks to obtain good results.
Translated and adapted from: https://www.aciprensa.com/historias/dos-vasijas-47