While walking along a beach, an elderly gentleman saw someone in the distance picking something up and throwing it into the ocean.
As he got closer, he noticed that the figure was that of a young boy, picking up starfish one by one and tossing each one gently back into the water.
He came closer still and called out, “Good morning! May I ask what you are doing?”
The boy paused, looked up, and replied, “Throwing starfish into the ocean.”
The old man smiled, and said, “I must ask, then, why are you throwing starfish into the ocean?”
To this, the boy replied, “The sun is up and the tide is going out. If I don’t throw them back, they’ll die.”
Upon hearing this, the elderly observer commented, “Do you not realize that there are miles and miles of beach and there are starfish all along every mile. It can't possibly make a difference!”
The boy listened politely. Then he bent down, picked up another starfish, threw it back into the ocean and said, “It made a difference for that one.”
I'm not sure what this post is about, really. The post-holiday, pre-inauguration gloom is setting in and it seems like a good time for a little more beauty in the world.
Making a difference one starfish at a time is a beautiful thing. We can do this, America.
