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Face Difficulties Positively

This parable is told of a farmer who owned an old mule. The mule fell into the farmer’s well. The farmer heard the mule praying or whatever mules do when they fall into wells.

After carefully assessing the situation, the farmer sympathized with the mule, but decided that neither the mule nor the well was worth the trouble of saving. Instead, he called his neighbors together, 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 old mule was hysterical! But as the farmer and his neighbors continued shoveling and the dirt hit his back, a thought struck him. It suddenly dawned on him 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. “Shake it off and step up… shake it off and step up… shake it off and step up!” He repeated to encourage himself. No matter how painful the blows, or how distressing the situation seemed, the old mule fought panic and just kept right on SHAKING IT OFF AND STEPPING UP!

It wasn’t long before the old mule, battered and exhausted, stepped triumphantly over the wall of that well! What seemed like it would bury him actually helped him … all 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.

Author Unknown

{ 174 comments… add one }
  • Ambika Sharma December 30, 2014, 11:04 am

    Shake it off and Step up!!!!! Its really inspiring

  • Ruben13 December 8, 2014, 1:22 pm

    Cool

  • Whitney sam October 19, 2014, 4:58 pm

    This is d best

  • Sanchari October 6, 2014, 12:25 am

    I really appretiate ppl who share such such stories… they dont know how much this can mean to ppl who are facing ordeals.

  • Nikki Anike October 5, 2014, 8:14 am

    Very inspiring.. it has really changed my life. I have not been able to share with my friends
    Sooo sad. It time l sent to their mails, it doesnt go…

  • Gouri July 29, 2014, 12:11 pm

    It’s like every coin has two faces…. it’s upto us to select the best one.

  • Jagan July 19, 2014, 3:21 am

    Too great… hats off to old mule… this story changes the humans also…

  • Soumya June 27, 2014, 2:49 pm

    This is a remarkable story. It touched my heart. It’s got an inspiring message.

  • Kiruthika May 28, 2014, 4:21 am

    Really wonderful!!

  • Pallavi Singla April 9, 2014, 9:02 am

    Awesome motivating stories….

  • Sumanth.s March 25, 2014, 3:15 am

    Awesome dude

  • Kennmarie February 4, 2014, 10:34 pm

    I think I gain “confidence” by reading these awesome stories… keep it up guys 🙂

  • Rhea Vanessa M. Reorizo January 24, 2014, 3:06 am

    This story is fantastic. I felt pity to the old mule because I thought he will die in the well. But, he sruggles and face the situation full of courage. This story really inspires me. Thumbs up!!!

  • Asma ibrahim January 12, 2014, 3:33 am

    Lovely story, really inspirational.

  • Divyanshi October 27, 2013, 2:57 am

    Very Great Story !

  • Rita October 16, 2013, 10:27 pm

    I love this story thanks for such an inspirational story. I am the type to panic and worry a lot but I don’t give up you have to keep encourage yourself and have faith I love this prayer. I CAN DO ALL THINGS THROUGH CHRIST WHO STRENGTHEN ME.

  • Mr.Yashwini Chaoda October 7, 2013, 11:48 am

    Long, long ago there was King who was fond of going to hunting with his soldiers. Once a situation such happened a snake bite the King’s toe and the King shouted aloud and became unconscious.

    His soldiers took the King into the palace and found his toe color was changed to blue with poison, and the Doctor advice to cut the toe immediately or else there are chances of spreading the poison all over the body. With the discussion and permission of the Ministers, the doctor successfully done the surgery and remove the toe. King is safe…

    When the King came into conscious he shouted in a high voice “Who cut my toe without my permission?” Everyone pointed – it was the Doctor.

    Immediately, without any hesitation the King ordered his soldiers to put the Doctor behind the dark Bars (Jail) as punishment.

    A few months later, as usual King went to hunt and while hunting, the King was kidnapped by some tribal people in the jungle who were in search of a live person blood – to be presented as a Gift (Bali) to the Jungle of God, by cutting the throat. While he was getting prepared to give Bali – Tribal people noticed, the toe was missing, hence this person is not the right one to give Bali to the God, so they released him. King had a narrow escape. Now it is his rebirth.

    As the King saw his death and had a narrow escape he told his soldiers to bring out the Doctor form the prison. The King fall on the feet of the Doctor and said, “If you would not have cut my toe that day, the tribal people would have cut my throat and given my bali to God. Thank you for saving my life by cutting my toe.”

    Astonishingly the Doctor fall on the feet of the King. King was shocked! Doctor said, “Thanks for putting me behind bars when you are out for hunting. If I was with you-hunting, they would have left you and taken my life.”

    Moral: What ever is happened is for the sake of Good. God puts us in the right place in the right time.

  • Kanchan October 2, 2013, 11:52 pm

    Shake it off and step up. We should put this amazing habit into practice, whatever tensions, worries that we have for the future; we should shake them off and lead our way towards our goal!

  • Anil September 26, 2013, 1:58 am

    Amazing. Analyse the situation and act bravely.

  • Shimeles September 19, 2013, 9:16 am

    What an inspirational story. If we have a willing heart we can really weather the storm. Thanks

  • Camilia September 15, 2013, 2:25 pm

    Nice…

  • Mammoo September 12, 2013, 2:22 pm

    Really inspiring, thought provoking and confidence building. Congrats.

    Myself being the head of institution, I told this story in our staff meeting for confidence building and readiness to face the challenges. All enjoyed and expressed happiness.

  • Antoasai September 7, 2013, 3:26 am

    It’s a good story.

  • Gulsirey September 6, 2013, 4:10 am

    Quite nice.

  • Gulsirey September 6, 2013, 4:09 am

    It’s a good story.

  • Antoasai September 5, 2013, 10:16 am

    This is very useful to everyone who reads it. They can get encouraged by this. Awesome. This teaches how the old man facing difficulties positively.

  • Larry Gonzales Ramos August 24, 2013, 4:40 am

    Brilliant, awesome and extremely liberating story! Soar high above life’s problems, let them be stepping stones for us to gain clear victories instead of defeats! Hats off please for the best writer of the story!!!!!!

  • The Bat Pig Cooly 555 August 11, 2013, 1:56 am

    Ahh the good old keep going even though it’s tough.

  • Santosh July 16, 2013, 5:25 am

    Very nice story.. Whenever we get obstacles in our life, we should face them with positive attitude.. This story surely helps to be confident in our goal..

  • Jade July 6, 2013, 10:20 pm

    Awesome

  • Sad June 18, 2013, 7:05 am

    Nice one.. whenever difficulties come in our life we should fight from that bravely.. and that is sure we’ll get out from misery…
    better time & bitter time are two parts of our life so enjoy life to both of them..

  • Yemi June 14, 2013, 1:54 am

    The point is that adversity is a machinery to lift us to our beautiful destinies in life. Without it forget about rising in life.

  • Supraja May 28, 2013, 8:31 am

    Awesome story!!! Very inspiring!!! Thank u a lot!!!

  • Roja May 17, 2013, 2:07 pm

    Really inspiring story……..

  • Josué M May 17, 2013, 1:40 pm

    Really inspiring!!! I hadn’t thought about it, it really helped me.

  • Arjun May 11, 2013, 1:14 pm

    Very inspiring story!

  • Nicholas Chacha May 6, 2013, 6:07 am

    Amazing story…!!

  • Ravi Jogai May 3, 2013, 4:37 am

    Good one. Really inspiring when you are in blue.

  • Ritika April 29, 2013, 3:50 am

    Very nice story, thx for sharing it. Lovely.

  • Naresh April 18, 2013, 1:02 pm

    Good……..

  • Keerthi March 17, 2013, 6:06 am

    Before reading this story:
    Q. To face difficulties……positively?
    A. Impossible.

    After reading this story:
    Q. To face difficulties……negatively?
    A. Possible.

    Great story….

  • Mthana March 9, 2013, 2:14 pm

    This is a motivating story

  • Kasim March 6, 2013, 1:59 pm

    Now that everyone knows that’s how it is.

  • Ezekiel mudi March 3, 2013, 10:27 am

    And life would be simpler!

  • Binita February 18, 2013, 6:06 am

    Thanks….realy learnd a lot from this story…….

  • Syed Akram February 15, 2013, 3:31 pm

    The story was so realistic and I like it the most ….thanks for sharing …

  • Poonam Matia January 20, 2013, 7:29 am

    That’s a very common and a lot many times heard story BUT every time I read this I couldn’t help admire its simplicity and the Magnanimous Lesson it delivers to the readers….. thnx for sharing.

  • Senthilmurugan G January 6, 2013, 2:51 pm

    It gives a lot of motivation….

  • Maryam December 29, 2012, 6:01 am

    Change your glasses and watch life in an other way. The difference between human is the diffrence in vision and this crucial difference can lift a person high above or make him as underdog. Thanks.

  • Maritza December 28, 2012, 12:03 am

    It’s true it all depends on how we look at the situation.

  • Abyb December 25, 2012, 5:21 am

    Everyone needs to learn from this story… I like it.

  • S CHOCKALINGAM December 18, 2012, 11:10 am

    Everyone must have the fighting spirit and the “Can do” attitude to survive in this world

  • DEBLINA CHAKRABORTY December 17, 2012, 1:37 pm

    Very, very persuasive!

  • God of Stories December 5, 2012, 12:29 pm

    Amazing and outstanding.

  • Hada Manish November 23, 2012, 8:08 am

    Nice Story. It will really help the readers to face the difficulties positively, one should always remember fighting with panic as the old mule did.

  • Madiha Abbas November 5, 2012, 12:00 am

    Highly motivating. We all should learn to behave wisely like the mule as we all face problems in our daily life its upon us to be bitter or act sweet and be happy in the end.

    As an adult we have a noble responsibility to be a role model for our youngers so we can teach them by acting positively so they can also learn to look in the eye of troubles rather then runnig away.

  • N.Sameer October 28, 2012, 9:37 am

    It is awesome. Whenever I am in trouble I will remember this story.

  • Emmanuel Monde October 19, 2012, 10:11 am

    This brief but exceptionally challenging story is a real bulldozer. It filled me with more strength & energy. From the time I read it I have purposed to make use of it in my sermons to motivate my people.

    I think it is necessary for anyone having seen it to share it with others the same way, for it is a treasure.

  • Mona Yadav October 11, 2012, 12:21 pm

    I really like this story…. it really inspires me a lot….. thnx for updating this type of story…

  • Muthu October 11, 2012, 10:22 am

    Very nice.

  • Thejesh September 30, 2012, 7:26 am

    A good story

  • Sharon Eunice September 27, 2012, 4:46 pm

    At first, I was guessing what would happen. I was surprised how the mule got out the well. It really encouraged me so much… Those negative things that we experience will lead us to success, only if we know how to handle pressures in life. It’s also nice to remember that Jesus Christ once ride on a mule while people salute him. 🙂

  • Mutai Duncan September 21, 2012, 9:41 am

    I have learned a lot, thank you………..

  • Sippy September 18, 2012, 11:22 am

    Excellent & highly motivating.

    At times I do fail to bounce back……indeed, this is an enriching one. Thanks.

  • Jayashree September 1, 2012, 4:36 am

    It was quite interesting. This types of inspiration is required in our day to day life. Get motivated and positive energy get in it.

  • Hanumesh August 28, 2012, 2:00 am

    I GOT Energy from this story…thanks…

  • Shakti Dua August 27, 2012, 1:38 am

    Very motivational & enthusiastic story…will help to keep pace with today’s diversified & competitive scenario

  • Sunil August 19, 2012, 2:06 am

    This is very inspiring story, need to implement in practical working life.
    Thanks for the sharing good one

  • Digital August 15, 2012, 7:24 am

    Truly inspiring story… outstanding… to surmount successfully from gloom illustrates the power of positive thinking.

  • Enrico August 12, 2012, 9:00 am

    Astoundlingly inspirational! It has been able to move me back to my feet and go on with my life positively. At a first glance its a very short story yet it can move everyone:))) Nice keep working with type of stories. Thank you.

  • joeypot August 2, 2012, 9:54 pm

    nice!!!

  • Nirmal August 1, 2012, 7:57 am

    Positive thinking can lead you to the top of the world

  • Daniel Smith August 1, 2012, 5:40 am

    Good

  • Santosh Kumari July 29, 2012, 4:23 am

    The story was motivational and I am glad that I read today as it will motivate me in my day to day difficulties.

  • Garima July 28, 2012, 12:17 am

    Highly inspiring

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