抖下来 第4期

A 1)parable is told of a farmer who owned an old mule.

The mule fell into the farmer’s well. The farmer heard the mule “2)braying” or whatever mules do when they fall into wells.

After carefully 3)assessing the situation, the farmer 4)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 and told them what had happened and 5)enlisted them to help 6)haul dirt to bury the old mule in the well and put him out of his misery. Initially, the old mule was 7)hysterical.

But as the farmer and his neighbors continued

8)shoveling and the dirt hit his back a thought struck him. It suddenly 9)dawned on him that every time a shovel load 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 10)distressing the situation seemed, the old mule fought 11)panic and just kept right on shaking it off and stepping up.

It wasn’t long before the old mule, 12)battered and exhausted, stepped 13)triumphantly over the wall of that well. What seemed like it would bury him, actually blessed him all because of the manner in which he handled his

14)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, the adversities that come along to bury us usually

have within them the potential to benefit and bless us.

Remember that Forgiveness, Faith, Praise and Hope all are excellent ways to shake it off and step up out of the wells in which we find ourselves.

有一则寓言，讲的是一个拥有一头老骡的农夫的故事。

这头骡掉进农夫的井里。农夫听见骡“嘶叫”――或者说是所有骡子掉进井后都会发出的声音。

仔细估量情形后，农夫很同情这头骡，但还是决定无论是骡还是井都不值得费神挽救。

他反而召集其邻居，告诉他们事情经过，并征召人拉土埋葬井里的老骡以结束它的痛苦。老骡顿时变得歇斯底里起来。

但是当农夫和他的邻居们不停铲土，泥土打到它背上时，老骡有了个想法。它突然想到每一铲泥土落到它背上的时候，它应该把泥土抖下来然后踩上去。

它就这样付诸行动，一下接一下。“抖下土、踩上去，抖下土、踩上去，抖下土、踩上去。”它不断给自己鼓劲。不管泥土打在身上有多痛，情形有多糟糕，老骡坚持与恐惧作斗争，不停地抖下土踩上去。

过了没多久，气喘吁吁、筋疲力尽的老骡终于胜利地站在井栏上了。正因为它对待困难的态度，使看似要埋葬它的东西变成庇佑它的东西。

这就是生活。如果我们积极面对问题，拒绝向恐惧、痛苦和自哀投降，原本要把我们埋葬的困难通常都有可能转变成有利因素。

记住，宽恕、信念、赞扬和希望都是很好的方法，会帮助我们抖下土再踩上去，走出困住我们的那口井。