Donkey in a well and Divorce

I just read a post by Helene at Adventure in Parenthood regarding the recent demise of her marriage.  She seemed to have and do it all:  Mother, Wife, and Employee with hobbies... and what is wrong with that?  I remember once a long time ago some one told me when you try to do to much or juggle too many things "something will give, something will lose out..."  What does that mean?  If you are to good a mother and employee you won't be a good wife?  Too good a wife and mother but not a productive employee?  Or does it have nothing to do with those things and just to do with the unpredictability of human nature (or is it predictable)?  I always like to think about the way things were done two hundred or three hundred years ago.  I mean, really, were women any less busy then?  Cooking, cleaning, working in the fields, rearing children, mending fences with the husband, educating the children, nursing the children (and the husband) -- this way of life is still a way of life for many on this planet.  Of course, I don't know what happens or happened to the marriages of those women but somehow I think divorce was less on their minds than survival.  So do we do to much or do we have too many choices?

My heart goes out to Helene since it seems she has been given no choice.  Divorce is hard and going through one even harder.  In her post she retells a story her Aunt had related about a donkey a farmer threw down a well.  Apparently the farmer hated the donkey (probably because the donkey worked much harder than he did and received too much praise for all it accomplished in life) so he tried to kill it by throwing it down a well and heaping manure on top of it.  Each time the manure came down the donkey shook it off and stamped on it which of course created higher ground.  Eventually the donkey was able to climb out of the well.  I think I heard this story before and Helene may not have heard this part, but the donkey went on to lead a very productive and happy life.  She, the donkey, found people who appreciated her wonderful qualities.  The farmer, however, well sadly he turned to younger less experienced donkeys in hopes that he would start to receive praise for all they accomplished.  But the younger donkeys had no use for the old farmer and when he went to bed they ran off to play and were much to tired to do any work the next day.  The moral of the story is a mountain can be made out of a mole hill?  Getting poop thrown on you really isn't that bad?  The farmer's life sucks after the donkey leaves?  No, I think what the Aunt was trying to say is even something as bad as divorce can be overcome and life will have joy again.