definition of a beautiful heart

one day,
a young man was standing in the middle of a town,
proclaiming that he had the most beautiful heart,
it was perfect.
There is not mark or a flaw in it.
Suddenly,
an old man appeared and said,
Your heart is not nearly as beautiful as mine.
The young man looked at the old man's heart,
It was beating strongly but it was full or scars, jagged edges and holes.
He 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,” the old man said,
“every scar represent 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 the sometime the pieces isn'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 y'ou see what true BEAUTY is?”
WHAT is YOUR HEART like?
Did you PROTECT it so well that it is perfect without scars?
Have you touched someone's LIFE today?
Sometimes it hurts, but it is when LIFE counts!