THE CLAY BALL
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A man was exploring caves by the seashore. In one of the caves he
found a canvas bag with a bunch of hardened clay balls.

It was like someone had rolled clay balls and left them out in the sun
to bake. They didn't look like much, but they intrigued the man, so he
took the bag out of the cave with him.

As he strolled along the beach, He would throw the clay balls one at a
time out into the ocean as far as he could. He thought little about
it, until he dropped one of the clay balls and it cracked open on a
rock.

Inside was a beautiful, precious stone!

Excited, the man started breaking open the remaining clay balls. Each
contained a similar treasure. He found thousands of dollars worth of
jewel in the 20 or so clay balls he had left. Then it struck him. He
had been on the beach a long time. He had thrown maybe 50 or 60 of the
clay balls with their hidden treasure into the ocean waves.

Instead of thousands of dollars in treasure, he could have taken home
tens of thousands, But he had just thrown it away!

It's like that with people. We look at someone, maybe even ourselves,
and we see the external clay vessel. It doesn't look like much from
the outside. It isn't always beautiful or sparkling, so we discount
it. We see that person as less important than someone more beautiful
or stylish or well known or wealthy, but we have not taken the time to
find the treasure hidden inside that person.

There is a treasure in each and every one of us.

If we take the time to get to know that person,then the clay begins to peel away and the brilliant gem begins to shine forth.

May we not come to the end of our lives and find out that we have
thrown away a fortune in friendships, because the gems were hidden in
bits of clay.

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fruitlady My Sexy Lw Wifey!
laineyloo My Lushious Mistress
Crazy snake My Hunky husband
Byble My Suga Daddy teehee

That'd make a different comment on the way we are though, wouldn't it?

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vote

Personally, whenever I'm processing roses (this means pulling off dead petals, and thorns), I'm always reminded about humans... A rose can look very beaten up with the petals on the outside... however, after pulling off only a few petals, the rose is just as beautiful as any other... :).

Stereotypes and media are something that will probably ALWAYS affect our thoughts... however, not letting those get in the way of letting you know someone is what's truly important :)

Why should I waste time on someone who I have 0 interest in? Just because someone is fat and ugly doesn't mean there IS a gem inside... could be a hollow, bitter bitch.

And how many people really can you "crack open" to find the "gem inside" with any ease? Most people who have a "clay exterior" tend to be fairly tough, and not that easy to crack open.

I think the story is silly, contrite and bullshit.

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Hagl Far Enki!
Kanskje hans evige lys vil regne ned på oss for alltid!

Post edited at 2:05 am on April 29, 2008 by emma19911

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fruitlady My Sexy Lw Wifey!
laineyloo My Lushious Mistress
Crazy snake My Hunky husband
Byble My Suga Daddy teehee

What if there was no super thousand dollar jewel inside. Would it still be special?

Why is the clay ball only beautiful and worth something if there is a jewel inside. Why can't the clay itself be worth it.

Why must my exterior not be beautiful, and myself only worthy if there is a jewel inside me?

Again, this story, and even the analogy, is horrible.

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Hagl Far Enki!
Kanskje hans evige lys vil regne ned på oss for alltid!

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Disagree strongly.

Why should I waste time on someone who I have 0 interest in? Just because someone is fat and ugly doesn't mean there IS a gem inside... could be a hollow, bitter bitch.

And how many people really can you "crack open" to find the "gem inside" with any ease? Most people who have a "clay exterior" tend to be fairly tough, and not that easy to crack open.

I think the story is silly, contrite and bullshit.

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Yeah, some people are just plain rotten on the inside.  But those that have a 'nice' exterior can also be a whole load of shit on the inside.

You don't have to be interested in the person romantically, that's not the point.  So many people are so easily controlled by stereotypes and the media, it's actually quite amusing how easily they are swayed.  They see someone, and immediately make judgements, and for that reason, immediately create a barrier.  Whether it's fashion related, racial related, stereotype related... whatever it may be.  

I understand where you're coming from in terms of the story... but you seem to be completely oblivious, or otherwise too lazy to mention, the other half of this... those that look like gems on the outside... but are actually worthless.  If it can go one way, it can go the other.

So I dunno, I guess it comes down to this for me... if I had to choose between a friend who I didn't find attractive, but who respected me, and I could get along with and shared interests with... or choose a friend who looked hot, but couldn't give a fuck about me, and was just a down right ass.  I'd go with the first, any day, every day.

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On another note, what if those clay balls WERE just clay?  

What if there was no super thousand dollar jewel inside. Would it still be special?  

Why is the clay ball only beautiful and worth something if there is a jewel inside. Why can't the clay itself be worth it.  

Why must my exterior not be beautiful, and myself only worthy if there is a jewel inside me?  

Again, this story, and even the analogy, is horrible.

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You're missing the point... you're right... it might be nothing inside... but the point is... the initial outer barrier keeps people from even trying to see if there's anything worth discovering.

Instead... you prefer looking at those that look promising on the outside, and later finding out they aren't worth shit... as opposed to those that don't look so great on the outside, but might have some value to them...

Post edited at 2:01 am on April 29, 2008 by Just Waiting Here

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Quote: from Hyacinth at 1:49 am on April 29, 2008

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Disagree strongly.  

 Why should I waste time on someone who I have 0 interest in? Just because someone is fat and ugly doesn't mean there IS a gem inside... could be a hollow, bitter bitch.  

 And how many people really can you "crack open" to find the "gem inside" with any ease? Most people who have a "clay exterior" tend to be fairly tough, and not that easy to crack open.  

 I think the story is silly, contrite and bullshit.

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Yeah, some people are just plain rotten on the inside.  But those that have a 'nice' exterior can also be a whole load of shit on the inside.

You don't have to be interested in the person romantically, that's not the point.  So many people are so easily controlled by stereotypes and the media, it's actually quite amusing how easily they are swayed.  They see someone, and immediately make judgements, and for that reason, immediately create a barrier.  Whether it's fashion related, racial related, stereotype related... whatever it may be.  

I understand where you're coming from in terms of the story... but you seem to be completely oblivious, or otherwise too lazy to mention, the other half of this... those that look like gems on the outside... but are actually worthless.  If it can go one way, it can go the other.

So I dunno, I guess it comes down to this for me... if I had to choose between a friend who I didn't find attractive, but who respected me, and I could get along with and shared interests with... or choose a friend who looked hot, but couldn't give a fuck about me, and was just a down right ass.  I'd go with the first, any day, every day.

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But barriers can be/are a necessity. And it is not so much a barrier you create, but an assumption that helps you judge. We need this, so that we can gain some sort of indication on how to act around someone.

The problem arises when you discriminate based upon said assumption from an outside glance.

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Hagl Far Enki!
Kanskje hans evige lys vil regne ned på oss for alltid!