An elderly Chinese woman had two large pots

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 walks 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 two 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!

A giant ship engine failed

A giant ship engine failed. The ship’s owners tried one expert after another, but none of them could figure but how to fix the engine.

Then they brought in an old man who had been fixing ships since he was a young. He carried a large bag of tools with him, and when he arrived, he immediately went to work. He inspected the engine very carefully, top to bottom.

Two of the ship’s owners were there, watching this man, hoping he would know what to do. After looking things over, the old man reached into his bag and pulled out a small hammer. He gently tapped something. Instantly, the engine lurched into life. He carefully put his hammer away. The engine was fixed!

A week later, the owners received a bill from the old man for Rupees ten thousand .

“What?!” the owners exclaimed. “He hardly did anything!”

So they wrote the old man a note saying, “Please send us an itemized bill.”

The man sent a bill that read:

Tapping with a hammer…… ……… ……. Rs. 2.00

Knowing where to tap………. ……… …… Rs. 9, 998.00

We Seek our Happiness outside

We seek our happiness outside ourselves and in the opinion of men who we know to be flatterers, insincere, unjust, full of envy, caprice, and prejudice. How absurd!

-          La Bruyere

Geraldine Laybourne, a chairman of Oxygen Media

Geraldine Laybourne, a chairman of Oxygen Media: When people complain about their horrible bosses, I say "Aren’t you lucky, " because the more examples of bad management you see, the more you’ll learn. I learned from my worst boss than I did from my best. I took notes on how I would not manage.

The Criminal is commonly a man

The criminal is commonly a man whose mind has been denied opportunities of wholesome and constructive thought. He has turned to a fiendish way of life because he had never turned to the pursuit of goodness.

I Learned from Experience that

I learned from experience that if there was something lacking, it might turn up if I went after it, saved up for it, worked for it, but never if I just waited for it. Ofcourse, you had to be lucky, too, although I discovered that the more I worked the luckier I seemed to get. Besides, most of the happiness was in the pursuit.

    As my Uncle Benny used to say, "It’s not the sugar that makes the tea sweet, but the stirring."

                                                              

                                                                               (From Reader’s Digest)