Today's Gift - "Shake it off and step up"

I heard this story months ago but it has been on my mind lately so it becomes today’s gift to share with you.

A man had a favorite mule.  One night the mule fell into a deep hole that was just big enough for the mule but nothing else.  The man was beside himself and tried everything he knew to try to save his friend but everything he tried failed to work.  After trying for hours and using every suggestion he was given, the man thought the most humane thing to do was to bury his mule.

So shovel by shovel full, the man threw dirt and gravel over his old friend.  But with each shovel load the mule would simply shake off the load and step up.  Several hours later the mule had compacted enough dirt, soil and gravel that he simply rose high enough to just walk right out of the hole. 

What an awesome lesson for our life.  We often experience things that are meant to or have the capacity to “bury” us if we let it.  But, if we simply shake it off and step up nothing can have power over us. 

So the gift today is the realization that we all have the capacity to “shake it off and step up”.  Whether it is a physical, financial or personal issue, shake it off and step up.  Use what was meant for your demise to rise higher, live richer, lover deeper.  It is your choice.  May you always be able and choose to “shake it off and step up”.  I do (most of the time) and it has made all the difference!