The Starfish Story
A young man is walking along the ocean and sees a beach
on which thousands and thousands of starfish have washed ashore.
Further along he sees an old man, walking slowly and stooping often,
picking up one starfish after another and tossing each one gently into the ocean.
"Why are you throwing starfish into the ocean?" he asks.
"Because the sun is up and the tide is going out and
if I don't throw them further in they will die."
"But, old man, don't you realize there are miles and
miles of beach and starfish all along it!
You can't possibly save them all, you can't even save one-tenth of them.
In fact, even if you work all day, your efforts won't make any difference at all."
The old man listened calmly and then bent down to pick up another starfish
and throw it into the sea.
"It made a difference to that one."
http://www.grca-nrc.org/Starfish.htm
A young man is walking along the ocean and sees a beach
on which thousands and thousands of starfish have washed ashore.
Further along he sees an old man, walking slowly and stooping often,
picking up one starfish after another and tossing each one gently into the ocean.
"Why are you throwing starfish into the ocean?" he asks.
"Because the sun is up and the tide is going out and
if I don't throw them further in they will die."
"But, old man, don't you realize there are miles and
miles of beach and starfish all along it!
You can't possibly save them all, you can't even save one-tenth of them.
In fact, even if you work all day, your efforts won't make any difference at all."
The old man listened calmly and then bent down to pick up another starfish
and throw it into the sea.
"It made a difference to that one."
http://www.grca-nrc.org/Starfish.htm
Thank You Ginger. I have read this every day for the past 18 months, since you first sent it to me.
ReplyDeleteIt has been a terrific help keeping things in perspective for me. Sometimes I have to "settle" for making a difference to one,sometimes none. I have learned that all I can do is my best. I try it again the next day.