One day a man was walking along the shore and noticed a child running back and forth between the wet sand and back to the edge of the ocean. Out of curiousity, he followed the child up the beach. As he drew closer, he could see the child picking up small objects off the sand and throwing them into the sea.
He walked closer to the child and called out, “Good morning! May I ask what it is that you are doing?” The child paused for a moment, turned and replied, “I’m returning these starfish to the ocean.”
“Why are you throwing starfish into the ocean,” asked the intrigued man; to which the youg man replied, “The tide is going out – if I don’t throw them back into the water, they will die!”
Upon hearing this, the man replied, “Don’t you realize there are miles and miles of beach and there are starfish scattered along every mile?” You cannot possibly make a difference.”
The child bent down to pick up another starfish and threw it into the ocean. As it landed in the sea, the child said, “I made a difference to that one!”
This is a classic story written by Loren Eiseley in 1979. Eiseley found inspiration at the age of three, when his father took him to a hilltop to watch Halley’s Comet. He spent the remainder of his life inspiring others with his writings.
Some will chase starfish along a never ending shoreline. Others will tell of their story. In the end, we may not change the face of humanity, but TOGETHER, we CAN make a difference in the lives of others — if but one person at a time.
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Ross