The human hands have ten fingers of different lengths, and a person has his strong and weak points. Just like the fingers with their different uses, our weaknesses are not worthless. The most important is to see our own faults and shortcomings as they are and try to overcome them in order to better ourselves. If we tried to conceal our inadequacies, we would be hiding behind our problems, instead of trying to solve them.
Coming to terms with our shortcomings as well as good points is like furniture making where different sizes of woods are needed to build a chair or a table. A furniture maker will never favor one piece of material over another because of its length. Both the long and the short have their own purposes. The same goes for our strengths and weaknesses. A deficiency or a flaw is nothing to be ashamed of. When we see a person's bad points, we must accept them like we accept his good ones. Our minds must be open like the ocean in its ability to take in hundreds of rivers.
No one in this world is perfect and without inadequacies. However, shortcomings are not the same as errors or mistakes. For example, the inability to sing or draw is nothing serious and is definitely not a character flaw. It will not diminish a person's worth or take away his strength, for he might have some other skill or talent that is special and unique. Even if a person was not skillful in one thing or another, he should not be blamed because he has not committed any mistake. What is important in life is to have perseverance and energy as one's strong points and to be magnanimous and virtuous, wise and responsible, diligent and resolute. These are virtues that can be cultivated by everyone and anyone. There are no excuses for their failures because they are simply matters of one's will and not questions of one's ability.
The trouble with today's youth is that they do not look to overcome their shortcomings. Instead of finding ways to better themselves, they spend all their time in covering up their mistakes. They make up all kinds of excuses when being criticized for wrongdoings. They dislike those who point out their weakness. Even parents and teachers have forgotten their duties in going out of their ways to defend their children and students. Husbands and wives have learnt to conceal one another's flaw out of love, while friends have known to hide each other's bad points out of loyalty. No matter what their intentions might be, their actions have brought more harm than good to their loved ones. If we really want to be good to those we care most about, we must not ignore their faults by concealing them.
A good speaker always welcomes questions and comments from his audience at the end of his speech. A good writer always asks for advice and suggestions from his editor. Why would they do that? Because they want to improve themselves by correcting their mistakes and knowing where they have erred. Their humility allows them to elevate themselves to a higher level.
Nowadays people conduct meetings to discuss different issues. They would adopt the best plan and use the best idea. They would listen to different voices in fear of making a mistake or overlooking a point. Their goal is to keep the good and weed out the bad. However, it is truly regrettable that some people today would abuse their power and authority by concealing their own faults as well as those of their colleagues. If our surroundings were infested with bad elements, corruption would run wild in our society. If we allow ourselves to gloss over our faults, our character would be blemished. If we try to hide our physical ailments, our health would deteriorate. If we were to conceal our shortcomings, our potential would be severely limited. Therefore, if we had a weakness in our moral character, we must find a way to strengthen it because it is not an excusable defect.
Although each of our strong and weak points has its own merit, we must fully utilize our strength and admit our weakness. We must make up for any shortcoming by not concealing our flaws because it is the only chance we have to turn our deficiencies into something positive.