Shake the Dirt & Step Forward, Shake the Dirt & Step Forward…..

One evening a farmer’s donkey fell down a deep well. The animal cried piteously all though the night and for hours the next morning. The farmer thought through the morning and discussed with some of his friends at the corner shop, where the men would usually gather to discuss the happening of the previous day and what the highlights in the newspaper are. The farmer tossed his concern of the fallen donkey to the group.

The neighbours and the farmer decide the donkey was too old and the well needed to be covered up. So they proceed to meet mid-afternoon, to fill the well in and thereby hopeful put the donkey’s cry for help to rest.

The group gathered at three pm, each with a shovel in their hand and proceed to shovel and began to shovel the dirt into the well.

As dirt was shovelled into the well, the donkey was crying out louder, and louder. Then all of a sudden the cry of the donkey stopped. The farmer peaked over the well, to see the what had happened. To his amazement he was astonished to see the donkey with every shovel of dirt that fell on the donkey’s back, the donkey was doing something different….He would shake off the dirt and take a few steps forward. He kept repeating this as dirt was shovelled down the well.

Pretty soon to everyone’s amazement the donkey stepped up over the edge of the wall and totted off….

In Life too … dirt will be shovelled at us. All kinds of dirt….. Now the trick is ….. role model the donkey, shake it off and take a step forward, shake it off and take a step forward….. it is very simple, we tend to complicate the simple to the difficult. Each of our troubles is a stepping stone. It does not matter how deep the well is, always remember, never give up, we can get out of trouble by just repeating the process….Shake the dirt, step forward, Shake the Dirt,  step forward.