Do you ever get discouraged at how problematic the world has become? Does your heart sink at the avalanche of troubles burying you, your family, or your friends? That even if you wanted to help, you wouldn’t know where to begin?

I love the story, ascribed to Loren Eiseley, of a man walking along a deserted beach. He saw a boy in the distance, and noticed that the boy kept bending to pick up something and throw it into the ocean. He did this again and again.

As the man approached even closer, he saw that the boy was picking up starfish that had washed up on the beach. One at a time, he was throwing them back into the water.

When he asked the boy what he was doing, the boy replied, “I’m throwing these washed up starfish back into the ocean, or else they will die.”

“But you can’t possibly save them all,” the man said. “There are thousands on this beach, and this must be happening on hundreds of beaches along the coast. You can’t possibly make a difference.”

The boy smiled, bent down and picked up another starfish. As he threw it back into the sea, he replied, “I made a huge difference to that one!”

 
You and I may not be able to change the world, but we can do the next right thing. We can make a difference in at least one person’s life today. Who will it be? A family member? A friend? A neighbor? A coworker?

What will you do? Give a cold drink to a service person? Shop for a home-bound neighbor? Mail an encouraging note to a friend?

Make a difference today – one starfish person at a time!

In whose life can you make a difference today?