One day a farmer's donkey fell down into a
well. The animal cried piteously
for hours as the farmer tried to figure out
what to do. Finally he decided
the animal was old and the well needed to be
covered up anyway, it just
wasn't worth it to retrieve the donkey.
He invited all his neighbors to come over and
help him. They all grabbed a
shovel and began to shovel dirt into the well.
At first, the donkey realized
what was happening and cried horribly. Then,
to everyone's amazement, he
quieted down.
A few shovel loads later, the farmer finally
looked down the well and was
astonished at what he saw. With every shovel
of dirt that hit his back,
the donkey was doing something amazing. He
would shake it off and take a
step up.
As the farmer's neighbors continued to shovel
dirt on top of the animal, he
would shake it off and take a step up. Pretty
soon, everyone was amazed as
the donkey stepped up over the edge of the well
and trotted off!
Life is going to shovel dirt on you, all kinds
of dirt. The trick to getting
out of the well is to shake it off and take a
step up. Each of our troubles
is a stepping stone. We can get out of the
deepest wells just by not
stopping, never giving up! Shake it off and
take a step up!