A long long time ago, there lived a farmer who had an old donkey. One day the donkey fell into a big hole near the farmer’s house. The farmer was really worried. He called his wife, children and his neighbour to help him get the donkey out of the hole.

However, they were so few that they could not manage to pull the donkey out. The donkey cried out in pain. Then one person said that they should throw soil into the hole and hopefully the donkey would shake the soil off and step up.

At first, the donkey was very scared, but as the farmer and his neighbor continued to throw dirt into the hole, the donkey knew that this was his chance to get out.

So, when dirt landed on the donkey’s back, he would ‘Shake the dirt off and Step up!’ This he did, blow after blow.

"Shake dirt off and step up…shake dirt off and step up…shake dirt off and step up!” the donkey encouraged himself.

No matter how painful the blows were, the donkey fought panic and just kept right on track - shaking dirt off and stepping up!

It wasn’t long before the donkey got to the top of the huge hole. At first, he thought that the soil would bury him but instead, it helped him get out.

Just like the donkey, we need to have this attitude no matter how hard life becomes. We must always use our difficulties to become better, at school and in whatever we do.

Let us face our problems and respond to them positively, so that we can be great in whatever we do.

Ends