Subject: Shake It Off And Step Up
From: Unicorn (unicorn@indenial.com)
Date: Sun Mar 17 2002 - 23:41:31 EST
"Shake It Off And Step Up"
This old farmer had a mule that fell into the farmer's
well. The water wasn't very deep, so the mule was
able to stand on the bottom. The farmer heard the
mule praying, or whatever mules do when they fall
into a well and went to investigate. After assessing
the situation the farmer sympathized with the mule
but decided that neither the mule nor the well was
worth saving. The farmer called his neighbors together
and told them what had happened and enlisted them
to help haul dirt to bury the old mule in the well and
put him out of his misery.
Initially, the mule was hysterical, but as the farmer
and his neighbors continued to shovel dirt on his
back, a thought struck him. It dawned on the mule
that every time a shovel load of dirt landed on his back,
he would shake it off and step up. This he did, blow
after blow of dirt hitting his back. Shake it off and step
up...Shake it off and step up...Shake it off and step up...
The mule repeated this statement over and over to
encourage himself no matter how painful the blows
or distressing the situation seemed, the old mule
fought panic and just kept on shaking it off and
stepping up.
It wasn't long before the old mule, battered and
exhausted, stepped over the wall of the well. What
had seemed would bury him actually saved him
because of the manner in which he handled his
adversity.
That's life. If we face our problems and respond to
them positively and refuse to give in to panic,
bitterness or self-pity...the adversities that come
along to bury us often have within them the very
real potential to benefit us.
This archive was generated by hypermail 2b28 : Mon Apr 01 2002 - 00:00:01 EST