Donkey Wisdom

Here’s a story with a moral that allows us to tell you how important each of you are to the Distinctive Inns of New England.

One day a farmer’s donkey fell down into a well. The animal cried piteously for hours as the farmer tried to figure out what to do. Finally, he decided the animal was old, and the well needed to be covered up anyway; it just wasn’t worth it to retrieve the donkey.

He invited all his neighbors to come over and help him. They all grabbed a shovel and began to shovel dirt into the well. At first, the donkey realized what was happening and cried horribly. Then, to everyone’s amazement he quieted down.

A few shovel loads later, the farmer finally looked down the well. He was astonished at what he saw. With each shovel of dirt that hit his back, the donkey was doing something amazing. He would shake it off and take a step up.

As the farmer’s neighbors continued to shovel dirt on top of the animal, he would shake it off and take a step up. Pretty soon, everyone was amazed as the donkey stepped up over the edge of the well and happily trotted off!

The moral of the story:  Life is going to shovel dirt on you, all kinds of dirt. The trick to getting out of the well is to shake it off and take a step up. Each of our troubles is a steppingstone. We can get out of the deepest wells just by not stopping, never giving up! Shake it off and take a step up.

Here’s DINE’s take on the story: Allow yourselves to step out of the hole and into a new world.  Reward yourself for what’s good in your life.  Smile. Travel, and be grateful for your excellent good fortune and wisdom to reason a solution to every curve life might throw.

This Thanksgiving the eleven DINE member inns wish to thank each of their guests for stepping out of their wells and into our world and allowing Distinctive Inns of New England to allow you to “happily trot off”. We’re grateful for each guest who steps inside our inns.  The Rabbit Hill Inn captured the sentiment of each DINE innkeeper last year when they wrote “Without you, this is just a really nice, big house.  Your presence helps make it the warm, fun-filled place that it is!”

Best Thanksgiving wishes to each of you from Distinctive Inns of New England.