What will you do when life throws dirt on you?

Let me tell you a story about an ass and a hole. Once there was a donkey that fell in to an old empty well. The farmer who owns the donkey looked at the ass and tried to figure out how to get it out of there. Having thought of nothing to get the donkey out of the well, he decided to simply bury his donkey alive. So the farmer called his neighbors to shovel dirt into the well. At first the donkey got frightened and panicked. After some time the ass realized that if he shakes the dirt of his back, he can step up. He continued to shake the dirt off and step up until the well was full. I will leave to your imagination what he did to the farmer and his neighbors when he got out of the well.

Looking back in my life, I had my share of dirt thrown at me. I suffered from depression, ridicule, failure and worst of all rejection so many times growing up. Trying to survive all of these for a long time, I somehow learned to shake them off. It really took years before I actually learn to shake off the pains that I suffered much in my life. But now looking back, those painful moments actually helped me get stronger and wiser in living life. Like the donkey, I was able by the grace of God to use all those pain to “step up”.

St Thomas Aquinas describes wisdom as the view from the hill top. We can raise our hilltops with whatever life gives or throws at us. The good, bad and even the most painful experiences can be an opportunity for us to grow in wisdom.

With much dirt under my feet, I have a better view in life. And all I can say is that the view is awesome up here.