By LAURA LEONARD
Doctor of Chiropractic
Los Alamos
The story of the cracked pot is the third and final parable in my series on gratitude, optimism and learning how to let go of thinking patterns that chip away at our well-being.
The first parable I covered was that of the Chinese farmer.
This story teaches us to view life events as neither good nor bad because the ripple effects of these events are usually different than we expect. For the farmer, his horse ran away only to return with another horse by its side. While the other villagers said this was bad and were feeling sorry for him, the optimistic farmer was saying … yes, no, maybe.
This parable is a great reminder that an optimistic outlook towards events in our lives makes things a lot less stressful for us.
The second parable I covered was that of the man who loved dragons.
The moral of this story was to be careful what you wish for. The man was obsessed with dragons to the point of pursuing nothing else. The end result … he came home one day to find real life-sized fire-breathing dragons in his house. This story shows us that the mind is a powerful thing and our thinking patterns/focus affect us more than we realize. We create our reality with what we focus on.
This story teaches us to be aware of our thoughts so that we can steer our life in a positive direction.
The cracked pot parable goes as follows … A water bearer in India brought water to his master every morning in two large pots.
One of the pots had cracks in it and the other was perfect. On his trips back up from the stream, the cracked pot leaked and was always half full once he arrived at his destination. This went on daily for two years and the cracked pot became more ashamed of its failure with every day that passed.
One day the cracked pot was so discouraged that it spoke to the water bearer as he was filling it up.
Cracked Pot: “I am ashamed of myself, and I want to apologize to you.”
Water Bearer: “Why? What are you ashamed of?”
Cracked Pot: “Because of my flaws, I leak water and you don’t get full value for your efforts.”
This made the water bearer feel terrible for the old cracked pot and he said… “As we return to the master’s house, I want you to notice the beautiful flowers along your side of the path.” The old cracked pot saw the wildflowers but was still very ashamed. The bearer explained further… “I knew about your flaws and I took advantage of them.”
The water bearer had chosen the pot for the cracks. He planted flower seeds on the cracked pot’s side of the path so the flowers would get daily watering.
Water Bearer: For two years I have been able to pick beautiful flowers to decorate my master’s table. Without you being as you are, he would not have these beautiful flowers on his table.” –www.moralstory.org
The take home of the cracked pot parable is that imperfections are a blessing in disguise. Being able to look at our weaknesses from another perspective and without shame gives us confidence. Being transparent instead of ‘faking it till you make it’ is necessary if we want to reduce stress. Love yourself despite your flaws because you never know what blessings those flaws might bring.
Dr. Leonard’s practice focuses on posture and performance using a combination of soft tissue release, adjustments & exercise recommendations. She also coaches patients on nutrition, self-care & body awareness to manage themselves in between visits. LA Chiropractic Center is in the Mary Deal Building, Trinity Drive.
