<p>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. </p> <p>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 terribly. Then, to everyone's amazement, he quieted  down. </p> <p>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 again and take another a step up. </p> <p>Pretty soon, everyone was amazed as the donkey stepped up over the edge of  the well and trotted off!</p> <hr />  <h3>Moral</h3> <p style="font-weight: bold;">Life is going to shovel dirt on you. 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.</p> 