It matters what we do

This is for J, who is doing a hard scary thing and being very brave.

Doubtless some of you know this story already, but it’s a good one and worth retelling.

—–

A man walked along a beach where a storm had washed starfish up above the tideline. They were dying.

Up the beach, the man saw a little girl picking up the starfish one by one and throwing them back into the sea. She was slow, and she didn’t throw well, and there were thousands of starfish.

As she picked up another, the man said, You’re wasting your time. There are too many. Don’t try so hard. You’re not making any difference.

She threw the starfish and watched it sink into the water. Then she turned to him and said, I made a difference to that one.

—–

Enjoy your day, and please think a kind thought for everyone who makes a difference.

4 thoughts on “It matters what we do”

  1. This one made me rethink everything: You may be just one person in the whole world, but to one person you made be the whole world.

    1. jj, that’s a fabulous way to say it. Thank you.

      Jude, I hope I haven’t either, but sometimes I get impatient with the world and myself and and and… that’s why I hang onto stories like the starfish.

      Barbara, yep. They really do. So hard sometimes, though.

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