THE CRACKED POT

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!

TO REMEMBER ME

In my random browsing through my old things, I came across a notebook which I filled years ago with compilations of great writings from various reading materials. Writings and ramblings which have struck a chord in me that has since then resonated in my own perspective in life. Here is one which I think reflects what I desire when “THAT TIME” eventually catches up with me.

“To Remember Me…”
(Robert N. Test, Cincinnati POST)

The day will come when my body will lie upon a white sheet neatly tucked under four corners of a mattress located in a hospital busily occupied with the living and the dying. At a certain moment a doctor will determine that my brain has ceased to function and that, for all intents and purposes, my life has stopped.

When that happens, do not attempt to instill artificial life into my body by use of a machine. And don’t call this my deathbed. Let it be called the Bed of Life, and let my body be taken from it to help others lead fuller lives.

Give my sight to the man who has never seen a sunrise, a baby’s face or love in the eyes of a woman.

Give my heart to a person whose own heart has caused nothing but endless days of pain.

Give my blood to the teenager who was pulled from the wreckage of his car, so that he might live to see his grandchidren play.

Give my kidneys to one who depends on a machine to exist from week to week.

Take my bones, every muscle, every fiber and nerve in my body and find a way to make a crippled child walk.

Explore every corner of my brain.

Take my cells, if necessary, and let them grow so that, someday, a speechless boy will shout at the crack of a bat and a deaf girl will hear the sound of rain against her window.

Burn what is left of me and scatter the ashes to the winds to help the flowers grow.

If you must bury something, let it be my faults, my weaknesses, and all prejudice against my fellow man.

Give my sins to the devil. Give my soul to God.

If, by chance, you wish to remember me, do it with a kind deed or word to someone who needs you.

If you do all I have asked, I will live forever.

HAVE YOU EVER?

Have you ever experienced a time in your life when you felt so empty for no reason?

Have you ever felt so down but you just can’t tell why?
Have you ever felt like the world suddenly spins around and you are caught in the middle going nowhere?
Weird, isn’t it?
But that is the beauty of being human…
It is knowing that there is a purpose for each existence…and whatever that may be, it is also the reason why we still wake up breathing each morning…to discover that missing piece of the puzzle that would make our lives complete…

SUBSTANCE OF ACHIEVEMENT

Substance of Achievement

It is far better for you to earn something and not have it than to have something and never earn it. When you've truly earned something, there is a valuable and important part of it that can never be taken away.

To wish that all the treasures of life would simply and easily be given to you is to wish for nothing of any real value. It is in the effort, the discipline, the commitment to reach it, that achievement yields true meaning.

Dream the biggest, most spectacular, fulfilling and meaningful dream that you can imagine. And know that the moment you begin to earnestly and steadily work your way toward it, the richness of that dream is yours to experience.

What you desire is not what you really desire. What you really desire is to be the person you must become in order to achieve it.

What you really desire is to matter, to make a difference, to add your own special essence and flavor to life. What will bring you fulfillment is to create, express and bring to life, in your own way, the unique beauty of your spirit.

Look past the mere trinkets and artifacts of achievement. Focus on the substance of achievement that lives in the effort, the passion, the commitment, and the persistence.
There you'll find real and lasting value.

Make the Attempt

Everything you accomplish, you must first attempt. So get busy making those attempts.

Procrastination and excuses do not lead to achievement. The way to make it happen is to make the attempt.

You may very well fall short on the first few attempts. There may very well be plenty of good reasons to give up.

Even so, keep making the attempt. Action and persistence will get you everywhere.

How do you get yourself to make the attempt? By connecting that attempt, and the achievement it will ultimately bring, with a real and meaningful purpose deep within you.

When you are clear about why you must do what you must do, you'll have no trouble finding the will and the commitment to step boldly forward.

Make the attempt, as often as necessary, and you will surely make it happen.

THIS IS WHAT LOVE IS ALL ABOUT

It was a busy morning, approximately 8:30 am, when an elderly gentleman in his 80's, arrived to have stitches removed from his thumb. He stated that he was in a hurry as he had an appointment at 9:00 am.

I took his vital signs and had him take a seat, knowing it would be over an hour before someone would to able to see him. I saw him looking at his watch and decided, since I was not busy with another patient, I would evaluate his wound.

On exam, it was well-healed, so I talked to one of the doctors, and got the needed supplies to remove his sutures and redress his wound.

While taking care of his wound, we began to engage in conversation. I asked him if he had another doctor's appointment this morning, as he was in such a hurry.

The gentleman told me no, that he needed to go to the nursing home to eat breakfast with his wife. I then inquired as to her health. He told me that she had been there for a while and that she was a victim of Alzheimer's Disease.

As we talked, I asked if she would be upset if he was a bit late. He replied that she no longer knew who he was, that she had not recognized him in five years now.

I was surprised, and asked him, "And you still go every morning, even though she doesn't know who you are?"

He smiled as he patted my hand and said, "She doesn't know me, but I still know who she is."

I had to hold back tears as he left, I had goose bumps on my arm, and thought, "That is the kind of love I want in my life."

True love is neither physical, nor romantic. True love is an acceptance of all that is, has been, will be, and will not be.

FOUR PEOPLE YOU WILL MEET IN LIFE

My cellphone buzzed, and from a friend with unlimited texting credits, I got this message:

FOUR PEOPLE YOU WILL MEET IN LIFE:

1st is yourself;

2nd is the one you love the most;

3rd is the one who loves you the most;

and the 4th is the one you spend the rest of your life with.

Sadly in real life, these 3 people are usually not the same person.

The one you love most, doesn't love you...

The one who loves you most, is never the one you love most...

and the one you spend your life with, is never the one you love most or the one who loves you most;

S/He is just the person who happens to be at the right place, at the right time...

Isn't it true? How sad is the fact that most marriages happen not because of "true love", but rather because the persons involved just wanted to "settle down"...and that most of us go through life never really finding our "soul mate", and we end up sharing our life with the wrong person who just happened to be at the right place, at the right time; but we just learn to love, and teach our hearts to love anyway, and never realize that we missed that one great love supposed to be meant for each person's lifetime...

Deep down inside, in the farthest reaches of our mind, and in the most secret corners of our hearts, there is something missing, but we deny and ignore it, and try to fill that void with the everyday details of our mundane existence until we reach the end of our lives convinced that we have lived a full and happy life.

And so we die, and for those who have not found their soulmates, it is said they are reborn so they may go through life once more and try to find their "missing half"...to search all over again...
So, what's the point of it all? Especially since these days, it's freakin' hard to find somebody to "settle down" with, much less a "soul mate" who simply "rocks" your world and sends sparks of electricity all over your body, mind, and soul. Just how long will you search? Or should you wait? How in the world do you recognize your soul mate?

Aw, sheesh! Who the heck knows? Not I, that's for certain. Cause, well, you know, I AM still searching...