Inspiring Story: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 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 were missing. The people starred ... 

how could 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.

They embraced and walked away side by side.