The Cracked Cup

"What you are holding in your hand today may be someone else's dream."

There was an old man who drank his tea from the same cracked cup every morning.

The cup was not pretty.

There was a hairline crack running down the side.

His ear was slightly chipped.

The glaze was no longer shiny.

One day his son brought him a new set.

Shiny, flawless, thick porcelain.

- Dad, throw away that old one. You deserve something nice.

The old man just smiled.

The next day he took out the cracked cup again.

- But why do you insist on it? - asked his son.

- Because the tea is always the same hot out of it - he answered quietly.

The boy didn't understand.

And the old man continued:

- You know, the crack makes it cool down more slowly.

The wrinkled ear fits my finger just the way I've gotten used to it over the years.

And every morning, when the sunlight shines through it, I see time in it.

My life.

He stopped for a moment.

– Flawless things are beautiful.

But what grows old with you becomes truly yours.

The boy sat down next to him.

The old man sipped his tea.

– A person often counts what he lacks.

A bigger house. More money. A stronger body.

But in the meantime, he doesn't notice that there's warmth in his hand.

There's the light filtering through the window.

There's the fact that he got up today too.

He looked out into the yard.

– He who always looks for the flawless cup,

doesn't drink the tea.

There was silence.

The steam from the tea slowly rose.

And in that steam was everything that mattered:

the time,

the morning,

the warmth,

and the fact that they were still sitting together.

Life is not complete when everything is perfect.

But when you notice that the tea in your hand is already warm.