A Young Man and the Starfish

--by moni73ka, posted Oct 31, 2007

Once upon a time there was a wise man who used to go to the ocean to do his writing. He had a habit of walking on the beach before he began his work.

One day he was walking along the shore. As he looked down the beach, he saw a human figure moving like a dancer. He smiled to himself to think of someone who would dance to the day.

So he began to walk faster to catch up. As he got closer, he saw that it was a young man and the young man wasn't dancing, but instead he was reaching down to the shore, picking up something and very gently throwing it into the ocean.

As he got closer he called out, "Good morning! What are you doing?"

The young man paused, looked up and replied, "Throwing starfish in the ocean."

"I guess I should have asked, why are you throwing starfish in the ocean?"

"The sun is up and the tide is going out. And if I don't throw them in they'll die."

"But, young man, don't you realize that there are miles and miles of beach and starfish all along it. You can't possibly make a difference!"

The young man listened politely.

Then bent down, picked up another starfish and threw it
Into the ocean, past the breaking waves and said – "It made a difference for that one."

8601 Reads

Posted by moni73ka
Oct 31, 2007
Comments (14)

Readers Comments

AURELIA wrote: One good deed at a time! We can all make the world a better place. Thanks for sharing a great story. ~Aurelia

klort73 wrote: Oh! I've heard that story before! They used to hand it out in the school buletins. I love that story!

DebbieDay wrote: Wow what a beautiful story, and so true! thank you for posting it :)

keshavarao wrote: swami vivekananda says god is present in every livingbeing, serving anyliving being is serving god, really a wonderful story

MARK wrote: GREAT STORY

a.ka bull city 919 wrote: an very good story

Tikit wrote: We all need to be re-motivated from time to time, lest we begin to think our tiny acts of kindness are too insignificant to make a difference. Thank you for sharing this story.

Stella wrote: I love that story, my mom told it to me recently! Has anyone heard of Rachel's Challenge? It's the challenge of a girl, Rachel, (the first person killed in Columbine) which states that you should do a good deed every day, and that you may just start a chain reaction!

LOVEBUG wrote: You make a difference, I make a difference, together we will chance the world.

blisswholelife wrote: lovely message..... if we cant help all at a time.... let us help one by one...... but help

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