Shake It Off and Step Up

[265 words] The parable is told of an old dog that fell into a farmer’s well. After assessing the situation, the farmer sympathized with the dog but decided that neither the dog nor the well were worth the trouble of saving. Instead he planned to bury the old dog in the well and put him out of his misery. When the farmer began shoveling, initially the old dog was hysterical. But as the farmer continued shoveling, the dirt hit his back and a thought struck him. It dawned on the dog that every time a shovel of dirt landed on his back he should 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…