Make A Difference

There was a young man walking down a lonely beach just before dawn. In the distance he saw a frail old man.

As he approached the old man, he saw him picking up stranded starfish and throwing them back into the sea.

The young man gazed in wonder as, again and again, the old man slowly leaned down, picked up a small starfish from the sand, and threw it into the water.

He asked, "Old man, why do you spend so much energy doing what seems to be a waste of time?"

The old man explained that the stranded starfish would die if left in the morning sun.

"But there must be thousands of beaches and millions of starfish!" exclaimed the young man, "How can you make any difference?"

The old man picked up another starfish, looked at it, smiled, and as he threw it to the safety of the sea declared, "It makes a difference to this one!"