Just Keep Shaking It Off!

Sometimes in life you find yourself in a pit so deep that it seems as if there is no way out. Remember, “It’s your life and you call the shots, it’s not over until you say it’s over, no matter what!

This is the story of the mule that fell into a deep dark pit one day. He was in there wondering what to do. Some time later the farmer heard a sound that he was unfamiliar with. As any good farmer would do he walked his land in the direction of this unbearable noise. When the farmer looked down into the pit, (which by the way, he almost fell into himself) he saw that it was his prize mule. Not only was the farmer shocked and concerned for his animal but also for his own ability to get the mule out.

The cry of the mule became unbearable and the farmer ran for help. Soon the word was out and many of the farmers in his neck of the woods offered their help. Try as they might to get the mule out they came up short each time. Finally they came to the consensus that the best way to put the mule out of his misery was to bury him alive. Each got a shovel and in sequence they began to throw dirt on him.

After several hours and hundreds of shovels full of dirt being dumped on the mule he simply walked out of the pit. How could this have happened?

Each time the farmers threw dirt on the mule he simply shook it off, packed it down under his feet and stepped up higher. One characteristic of a mule is that they are known to be self-preservationists and self-thinkers. These traits also contribute to the "stubborn as a mule" cliché. A mule thinks for himself and decides that a particular situation may hurt him. In this instance, the mule’s stubbornness and persistence paid off and saved his life!

Life and people have the power to either bless you or bury you. When you find yourself in a pit some will heap on shovels and shovels of condemnation, rejection, and criticism. A wise person would help those who fall; a person full of pride on the other hand would have a tendency to think they are exempt from such a thing. Personally I have found that people who are risk adverse are the nastiest of all. They console themselves with the fact that they would certainly never find themselves in the same situation.

What I have come to find out by experience is that the reason they don’t is simply because they never take chances. How could you ever fail if you never live outside of your comfort zone?

Take all that gets thrown at you in life and just keep shaking it off, packing it down and stepping up higher. I have four words for you, “ Just shake it off!” Take what was meant to bury you and use it for your escape. Use it to make you stronger and more resilient to the adversities of life.

When we stand before God some will be surprised to find they were solely responsible for their own life and actions. They will finally understand they were not put on this earth to critique the lives of others. Don’t we all have enough to contend with in our own lives?

Remember, in the end, only one opinion will count. God’s opinion of you is the beginning and the end!

In the meantime,

“Do all the good you can, By all the means you can, In all the ways you can, In all the places you can, At all the times you can, To all the people you can, As long as ever you can.”
John Wesley
English religious leader (1703 - 1791)

BTW, in researching mules, I came across a most interesting story entitled: MULE KILLS MOUNTAIN LION - Photos "Stubborn as a mule" has some benefits :)