the STAR fish story - doing one thing that makes a big difference

A man was sitting in his small cabin by the beach writing, and he noticed a person in the distance apparently 'dancing' on the sand, going from the shore to the beach and back several times.  He watched for a few days wondering what was happening, and then his curiosity got the better of him and he decided to go and find out. 

As he approached the dancing figure, he saw hundreds of starfish which had been washed up on the beach by the tide.  He then saw the dancing figure picking up a starfish, going to the shore and puting the starfish back in the sea. And this happened many times as the man got nearer.

When they eventually talked, the man said that it would be impossible to clear the beach of all of the starfish - there were just so many.  The 'dancer' made no reply, but simply picked up another starfish and put it back in the sea and then came back and said:"well, made a difference to that one!"

How often do we think that we can't make a big difference in the world, but by doing something small, often, it has the potential to make a big difference to something or someone.  It could be simply ringing up a friend and saying how much you appreciate their friendship, smiling at someone, helping someone...... it doesn't have to be BIG but done with with a good heart.

The original story I heard on a video called The Power of Vision narrated by Joel Barker.  An interesting and inspirational chap  www.joelbarker.com