Each of us has flaws of a unique kind, but in this world nothing goes to waste. You may think you are useless, but somehow the flaws you possess can turn into a blessing you never imagined, as happened in the story of the cracked pot.
In one of the Indian villages there was a water carrier named Mahindar. He had two large pots that he carried hanging on his shoulders along the road. One of them was cracked at the top, and water would drip from it along the way. When he reached home, he would find the cracked pot with only half the water.
As for the sound pot, it was always completely full of water. The water carrier had been using the same pots for two years without changing them, which made the sound pot happy and proud of itself because it preserved the water inside, unlike the cracked pot, which was sad and ashamed that it could not deliver the water completely each day because it leaked through the hole in it.
One day the cracked pot said to the water carrier: “I am sorry, I want to apologize to you.” The water carrier said to him: “Why do you wish to apologize, and for what do you apologize?” The sad pot said to him: “Because of me, you do not receive the full value of your work. Despite your hard work filling the water and carrying it over long distances to water people, you receive only half the water you fill, and the other half leaks onto the road because of me.”
After Mahindar listened to the cracked pot and noticed his regret at the water leaking from it, he smiled at him affectionately and answered: “First, I want you to notice the beautiful flowers spread along the road.” Indeed, when Mahindar went out to fill the water again, on the way back the pot noticed that there were very beautiful flowers spread on the side adjacent to the pot on the way back home.
When the water carrier reached home, he set down the two vessels and continued his conversation with the cracked pot. He said to him: “Did you notice on our return that there were flowers on your side of the road, and not on the other side where the sound pot is?” The pot said with interest: “Yes, I noticed that.”
The water carrier Mahindar said: “I knew from the beginning about this crack in you, where water was always leaking from you. So I planted flower seeds along your part of the road so that it would not leak without benefit. For two years I have been carrying you on my shoulder to water those flowers unintentionally. Do not regret a flaw in yours ever; perhaps you have done what many cannot do.”
There are many qualities that we may consider a deficiency in a person, but they turn out to be a great blessing from God, such as forgetfulness. Its wisdom is great and mighty; we may learn it or may not be able to. Were it not for it, a person would not end regret, nor would pain end, nor would he overcome a calamity, nor would he forget a grudge he bore in his chest against someone.
Nor could he enjoy any of the pleasures of this world while remembering all those misfortunes that embitter his life and remind him of all their pains and sorrows. Therefore forgetfulness is a blessing because it helps a person overcome the difficulties of life. Difference is the way of God in the universe. People vary in natures and qualities, so we must believe in diversity, and what we see as a flaw may be a benefit, and vice versa.