Thursday 6 May 2010

When things seem tough, think of this....

One day a donkey fell into a deep well. The animal brayed for hours hoping someone would hear him and help him out of the well. Passers by stopped and looked down into the well, pondering what to do, but without ropes and tools and machinery, no-one could figure out how to save the donkey.

Eventually, one old man crouched down to the ground and scooped up some dirt in his hands. Slowly he stood and then threw the dirt into the well on top of the donkey. The onlookers at first thought he was crazy, some thought that he was trying to bury the donkey to quiet it. For hours the bystanders watched the old man, silently mocking him as his efforts were clearly futile - after all the donkey was still braying. As the light began to fade and darkness fall, one onlooker finally told the old man that his task was pointless. Without saying a word, the old man leant on the edge of the well and looked in. He extended his arm and smiled. The angry onlooker thought the old man was crazy, but himself went to the well and looked in. To his amazementhe saw the donkey with his head barely a foot from the opening of the well. With every handful of dirt that hit his back, the donkey had doing something incredible. He had shaken the dirt from his back and taken a step up. As more and more dirt was thrown upon him, so he rose up the height of the well. The angry onlooker shook his head in amazement, a smile spread across his face and he began to help the old man throw more dirt into the well. Soon the dirt was so high that the donkey could jump out of the well all on his own.

Life is going to throw dirt at you, the trick is to shake it off and take a step up. Each of our troubles is a handful of dirt. We can get out of the deepest wells by not giving up, shake it off and rise above it.


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