once a circle missed a wedge. the circle wanted to be whole, so it went around looking for its missing piece. but because it was incomplete and therefore could roll only very slowly, it admired the flowers along the way. it chatted with worms. it enjoyed the sunshine. it found lots of different pieces, but none of them fit. so it left them all by the side of the road and kept on searching. then one day the circle found a piece that fit perfectly. it was so happy. now it could be whole, with nothing missing. it incorporated the missing piece into itself and began to roll. now that it was a perfect circle, it could roll very fast, too fast to notice the flowers of talking to the worms. when it realized how different the world seemed when it rolled so quickly, it stopped, left its found piece by the side of the road and rolled slowly away.
the lesson of the story, i suggested, was that in some strange sense we are more whole when we are missing something. the man who has everything is in some ways a poor man. he will never know what if feels like to yearn, to hope, to nourish his soul with the dream of something better. he will never know the experience of having someone who loves him give him something he has always wanted or never had.
there is a wholeness about the person who has come to terms with his limitations, who has been brave enough to let go of his unrealistic dreams and not feel like a failure for doing so. there is a wholeness about the man or woman who has learned that he or she is strong enough to go through a tragedy and survive, she can lose someone and still feel like a complete person.
life is not a trap set for us by god so that he can condemn us for failing. life is not a spelling bee, where no matter how many words you’ve gotten right, you’re disqualified if you make one mistake. life is more like a baseball season, where even the best team loses one-third of its games and even the worst team has its days of brilliance. our goal is to win more games than we lose.
when we accept that imperfection is part of being human, and when we can continue rolling through life and appreciate it, we will have achieved a wholeness that others can only aspire to. that, i believe, is what god asks of us---not “be perfect”, not “don’t even make a mistake”, but “be whole.”
if we are brave enough to love, strong enough to forgive, generous enough to rejoice in another ‘s happiness, and wise enough to know there is enough love to go around for us all, then we can achieve a fulfillment that no other living creature will ever know.
Translation :
從前有一隻圓圈缺了一塊楔子。圓圈想保持完整，便四處尋找失去的那塊楔子。由於它不完整，所以只能滾動很慢。一路上，它對花兒露出羨慕之色。它與蠕蟲談天侃地。它還欣賞到了陽光之美。圓圈找到了許許多多不同的配件，但是沒有一件能完美地與它相配。所以，它將它們統統棄置路旁，繼續尋覓。終於有一天，它找到了一個完美的配件。圓圈是那樣地高興，現在它可以說是完美無缺了。它裝好配件，然後滾動起來。既然它已成了一個完整的圓圈，所以滾動得非常快，快得以至於無暇觀賞花兒，也無暇與蠕蟲傾訴心聲。圓圈快奔急騁，發現眼中的世界變得如此不同，於是，它不禁停了下來，將找到的那個配件留在路旁，又開始了慢慢地滾動。
※本文作者：佚名※