Hello
The Most Beautiful 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 is 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 did not 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 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 on my eart represents a person, most likely a lady, to whom I have given my love. I tear out a piece of my heart and give it to her. Often, she gives me a piece of her heart which fits into the empty place in my heart. But because the pieces are not 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 lady has not returned a piece of her heart to me. These are the empty gouges. Giving love is taking a chance. Although these gouges are very painful, they stay open, reminding me of the love I have for this lady too. I only hope that someday she may return and fill the space I have been waiting. So now do you see what true beauty really is?" A young lady standing in the crowd, stood there silently with tears running down her cheeks. She walked up to the old man, reached into her perfect young and beautiful heart, and ripped a piece out. She offered it to the old man with trembling hands. The old man took her offering, placed it in his heart. He, then, took a piece from his old scarred heart and placed it in the wound in the young lady's heart. It fit, but not perfectly, as there were some jagged edges. The young lady looked at her heart, not perfect anymore but more beautiful than ever, since love from the old man's heart flowed into hers. They embraced and walked away side by side. Remember: you are beautiful.
