I was born of an unlikely collision of two worlds. The son of an Indian mother from Bangalore and an American father from the Bronx.

From a young age, that collision sparked a silent struggle with my identity.

I never quite felt like I fit into the neat boxes that define much of our experience on the schoolyard.

My differences, or imperfections as I grew to see them, were something to be hidden. Masked. Worked around.

That is, until one formative conversation with my grandmother, when she shared a story that changed my entire perception of identity, uniqueness, and self-worth.

Today, I want to share that story (and its lessons) with all of you…

The Story of the Cracked Pot

There was an old man who lived in a village in India. Every morning, he would place a long stick across his back, hang a water pot from each end, and walk several miles to the river to get fresh water for his family.

But the two water pots were not the same. One had a series of small cracks in its side, causing it to leak.

The old man would fill both pots at the river, but by the time he got back to his home, the cracked pot would be half empty, the water having leaked out during the walk.

The cracked pot grew increasingly ashamed of its inability to complete the task for which it was made. One day, while the old man filled the two pots at the river, the cracked pot spoke to him.

“I’m sorry. I’m so embarrassed that I cannot fulfill my responsibilities as well as the other pot.”

The old man smiled and replied, “On the walk home today, rather than hanging your head in shame, I want you to look up at the side of the path.”

The cracked pot reluctantly agreed to do as the old man asked. As they left the riverbank and started on the path, he couldn’t believe his eyes.

On his side of the path was a beautiful row of flowers.

“You see,” the old man said, “I’ve always known you had those cracks, so I planted flower seeds along your side of the path. Each day, your cracks helped me water them. And now, I pick these flowers to share their beauty with the entire village.”

Your Perfect Imperfections

In a world that celebrates conformity, to be different, to be imperfect, can feel like a cause for shame.

The cultural attachment to comparison teaches you to bemoan your imperfections as a punishment. A weight. A burden. An unfortunate turn of fate.

You respond by attempting to hide them. To stand carefully in a light that will never expose them. That will cover your truth.

But what if everything you’ve been told about your imperfections is a lie?

What if those imperfections you’ve been conditioned to hide are the very things that will allow you to truly shine?

What if the things that make you imperfect in one light actually make you perfect in another?

What if you are the cracked pot, imperfect for its assumed task, but perfect for a more creative one?

Sometimes all it takes is one person who can help you see yourself in a new light. Who can show you a better way. Who knocks you off the default path and onto your path.

Find those who see your full, unique, imperfect self and embrace it.

Life is too short to spend it with people who constantly try to fix you. To change you. To mold you into their vision.

The cracks you’ve been taught to hate make you perfect…

For a person you haven’t even met yet.

For a task you haven’t even found yet.

For a journey you haven’t even started yet.

You are the cracked pot. Perfectly imperfect. Remember that.