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 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 and
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 perfectly
as there were some jagged 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
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Best Wishes
NOOR
Fri Feb 15, 2013 11:45 pm by 
