Second Hand Stories

I found this on a random blog and thought I would share it with all of you. I don't remember the blog and I don't know the original source for this story. If you desire you can look it up yourself.


One day a farmer's donkey fell down into a well.

The animal cried for hours as the farmer tried to figure out what to do. Finally, he decided since the animal was old, and the well was dry and needed to be covered up anyway; it just wasn't worth the effort to retrieve the donkey.

He invited his neighbors to come over and help. They grabbed shovels and began to throw 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. He was astonished at what he saw.

With each shovel of dirt that hit his back, the donkey would shake it off and take a step up.

As the farmer's neighbors continued to shovel dirt on the animal, he would shake it off and take a step up.

Many full shovels later, 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 steppingstone. We can get out of the deepest wells just by not stopping, never giving up! Shake it off and take a step up.

Or as Bill says, Don't be an ass and put yourself in a hole in the first place.