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!