Cracked Pot………..Imperfection to perfection a sneak peek.

I apologize for not being useful…..i am sorry……. I am able to deliver only 50%, I have flaws and imperfections, wailed the cracked pot……pot bearer pacifies the cracked pot and shows, how he used its defect as advantage and created rows of flowers on the way from the river to his house and those flowers are now blossomed, they are being used for decorating and worshiping God……..story goes like this and all of us are familiar with the it.

For the benefit of those who have not read the story, let me briefly explain.

 A water bearer had two large pots, each hung on each end of pole, which he carried across his neck. One of the pots had crack on it, while the other pot was perfect.

When the pot bearer use to carry water from river stream to his master’s house, cracked pot was able to deliver only half of it, while the other pot was able to deliver full water.

For two years it went on like this, the perfect pot was pride of his accomplishment. But the poor cracked pot was miserable and ashamed of its own imperfection. It spoke to the water bearer and told him that “I apologize and I am ashamed of myself for not doing justice” because of my flaws I don’t give full value to your effort.

Noticing its miserable state, water bearer told the pot, as we return to master’s house, I want you to notice the beautiful flowers along the path”

When the cracked pot saw the beautiful flowers on the way, he told that I have always known about your flaws, I took advantage of it, I planted flower seeds on your side path, and every day while we return back from stream, you have watered them, for years I have been picking these flowers and using it for decoration and worshiping. This cheered the cracked pot. 

The story is a metaphor; we all have our cracks and flaws. Challenge is to identify and find good use of unique talents.

 Physical flaws throw up lot of challenges, the process of transformation using other faculty to one’s advantage is tedious and stressful, you may need a creative, empathetic person to help you to overcome or some strong individual may find solutions on their own.

We keep hearing stories about some physically disabled guys who achieved highest degree of success in one or the other areas. Some examples, Stephen hawking, despite his illness and whole body was paralyzed from head to toe, he used voice synthesizer to communicate and all his life he was confined to wheel chair, it did not stop him to become an exemplary researcher and professor in Physics, he wrote many books on the subject of cosmos.

Another example is Nick Vujicic, he has no legs and hands, he is the founder of LIFE WITHOUT LIMBS- He is a motivational speaker and travel across the world and he has authored couple of books. He is an inspiration to millions of people.

These two are extreme cases, but, some commonly seen physical defects (like long nose, short ears, split lips…..) they become shy and loose self-confidence. However, many people face it with courage and they overcome through effectively employing the mental faculty and are able to compensate their defect with something completely different.

All of us have defects/imperfections, be it psychological, physical, emotional or intellectual. Many guys are tight-lipped about defects and suffer silently without taking action, and they develop inferiority complex and low self-esteem. This becomes great impediment to the growth.    

It’s up to the individual to recognize the imperfection and get it rectified, however, at times, we may need the support from various people, like, Manager/Leader/Mentor/Teacher, who have got the uncanny skill to recognize the defects and help the individual to navigate through the processes and overcome defects.

I have outlined few tips, which will help individuals to take corrective action on their own and overcome imperfections.

1. Recognize: introspection is the best way to recognize the gap, it will be a guiding light and help to recognize and prompt us to take action.

2. Reflecting & Reasoning: Recognizing the defect alone is not sufficient; it has to be reflected and  reasoned out in the light of reality, which gives you a reasonable understanding about the defect and the cause for it.

3. Required action Plan: Having recognized and reasoned out the defects, now you must be ready to draw plan of action, it should be comprehensive which includes the periodicity, process to be followed, and help required.

4. Resources required: List out the resources required and if necessary take help of others (Resources may be, a book, trusted friend, money, psychologist, or counselor).

5. Be Responsible for the change: Owning the responsibility is most important aspect, owning responsibility for your behavior and consequent actions. This defines your focused effort on the outcome and you demonstrate a winner mind set.

Throughout the process, staying optimistic and not losing hope is the key for success.

Self-Transformation is an ongoing process that requires continuous inner work.