The following is an excerpt from my email mentoring work with my at-risk youth and teens. It’s a short, inspirational story that I share with the youth who tell me they are feeling depressed, and feel that their family and peers have given up on them. A child or young person should never feel this way, but it is very common. I’m just trying to do my part to help!
“Hello, young people. I want to share something with you, so you won’t ever feel like giving up. This story was told to me by the man who helped me to become a mentor.
One day a farmer’s horse fell into the well. The animal cried for hours as the farmer tried to figure out what to do.
Finally, he decided that the animal was old, and since the well needed to be covered up anyway, retrieving the horse just wasn’t worth the effort.
He invited all his friends and neighbors to come over, and help him cover up the old well. They all got shovels, and began to dump dirt into the well. At first the horse realized what was happening, and cried out. Suddenly though, to everyone’s amazement, the horse stopped crying.
As people kept shoveling dirt onto the horse, the farmer looked down into the well, and was astonished at what he saw. When each shovel of dirt hit the horse’s back, he shook it off, and took a step up.
Pretty soon, everyone was amazed as the horse stepped up over the edge of the well, and trotted off!
See, young people, life is going to shovel dirt on you, whether you like it or not. The trick is getting out of the situations that get you down. You shake the dirt off each time it hits you, and take a step up like the horse did. Each of our troubles is a stepping stone. We can get out of the deepest wells just like the horse did, by NEVER giving up.”
Advocate/Mentor
Leonard E. Love