19/08/2013
Copied!!!
A LESSON LEARNED
A Perfect Heart
One day a young man was standing in the
middle of the town proclaiming that he had
the most beautiful heart in the whole valley. A
large crowd gathered and they all admired his
heart for it was perfect. There was not a mark
or a flaw in it. Yes, they all agreed it truly was
the most beautiful heart they had ever seen.
The young man was very proud and boasted
more loudly about his beautiful heart.
Suddenly, an old man appeared at the front of
the crowd and said "Why your heart is not
nearly as beautiful as mine." The crowd and
the young man looked at the old man's heart.
It was beating strongly, but full of scars, it had
places where pieces had been removed and
other pieces put in, but they didn't fit quite
right and there were several jagged edges. In
fact, in some places there were deep gouges
where whole pieces were missing. The
people stared -- how can he say his heart is
more beautiful, they thought? The young man
looked at the old man's heart, saw its state
and laughed. "You must be joking," he said.
"Compare your heart with mine, mine is
perfect and yours is a mess of scars and
tears."
"Yes," said the old man, "yours is perfect
looking but I would never trade with you. You
see, every scar represents a person to whom I
have given my love - I tear out a piece of my
heart and give it to them, and often they give
me a piece of their heart which fits into the
empty place in my heart, but because the
pieces aren't exact, I have some rough edges,
which I cherish, because they remind me of
the love we shared. Sometimes I have given
pieces of my heart away, and the other
person hasn't returned a piece of his heart to
me. These are the empty gouges --giving love
is taking a chance. Although these gouges are
painful, they stay open, reminding me of the
love I have for these people too, and I hope
someday they may return and fill the space I
have waiting. So now do you see what true
beauty is?"
The young man stood silently with tears
running down his cheeks. He walked up to
the old man, reached into his perfect young
and beautiful heart, and ripped a piece out.
He offered it to the old man with trembling
hands. The old man took his offering, placed
it in his heart and then took a piece from his
old scarred heart and placed it in the wound
in the young man's heart. It fit, but not at the
edges. The young man looked at his heart,
not perfect anymore but more beautiful than
ever, since love from the old man's heart
flowed into his. They embraced and walked
away side by side.
How sad it must be to go through life with a
whole heart.
Remember...
Work like you don't need the money.
Love like you've never been hurt.
Dance like nobody is watching.
Pass this on to someone you like. I just did!
