The Reality of Starfish
You can't save them all, but it's still worth trying.
One day a man was walking along the beach, when he noticed a boy hurriedly picking up and gently throwing things into the ocean. Approaching the boy, he asked, “Young man, what are you doing?” The boy replied, “Throwing starfish back into the ocean. The surf is up and the tide is going out. If I don’t throw them back, they’ll die.” The man laughed to himself and said, “Don’t you realize there are miles and miles of beach and hundreds of starfish? You can’t make any difference!”
After listening politely, the boy bent down, picked up another starfish, and threw it into the surf. Then, smiling at the man, he said,
“I made a difference to that one.”
- Loren Eiseley
Working with people from all walks of life makes it easy to think about the “starfish” that couldn’t get help. But the “starfish” we help is the difference we can make in the world. Even giving someone a smile can make a difference. It could be the only one they get all day.
