The story of the cracked pot begins with an old Chinese lady who lives in a simple village. The old lady had two large pots which she hung at the end of a stick. The old lady carried the stick across her neck, made of bamboo.
One of the two large pots that the old woman had was in good condition. The old woman would use these pots to carry water. The large pot in good condition would carry a full portion of water. Meanwhile, the other large pot was cracked and not in good condition. Because of this, the old lady would only deliver a little portion of water.
After fetching water in both large pots for quite some time, the old Chinese lady returned to her house. The walk from the stream to the old lady’s house was quite far. She carried water in one large pot, which was in good condition, while the other pot was cracked.
The woman used both large pots for two years. She brought both a full portion of water and a half portion of water from both pots. The large pot which was in good condition was proud of its achievement. However, the cracked pot was not happy with its performance and he was ashamed.
After two years had passed, the cracked pot told the old woman about how he was feeling. He disappointed himself for failing, and the old woman heard that. The cracked pot went on to tell the old woman that he had cracks that made the water leak. Thus, he could only deliver half a portion of the water.
Hearing his worries, the old lady smiled at the crackpot and she asked him if he noticed the flowers along the side of the park and how there weren’t any flowers on the other side of the park. She told him that she planted seeds along that path and every day that they walked down that path, the water that leaked from the cracked pot would water the seeds and because of this, the flowers bloomed beautifully.
The old woman told the cracked pot that the flowers that bloomed from the side of the park were what she used to decorate her house. She told him that for the past two years, she had been able to pick the flowers and use them to decorate her house.
With these words, the woman encouraged the cracked pot and told him that thanks to him, she could decorate the house with beautiful flowers. The old lady told the cracked pot that without the crack in his pot, she would not have any flowers in the house.