It Makes a Difference for This One

"While wandering a deserted beach at dawn, stagnant in my work, I saw a man in the distance bending and throwing as he walked the endless stretch toward me. As he came near, I could see that he was throwing starfish, abandoned on the sand by the tide, back into the sea.

When he was close enough I asked him why he was working so hard at this strange task.

He said that the sun would dry the starfish and they would die. I said to him that I thought he was foolish. There were thousands of starfish on miles and miles of beach.

One man alone could never make a difference.

He smiled as he picked up the next starfish. Hurling it far into the sea he said, "It makes a difference for this one."

I abandoned my writing and spent the morning throwing starfish."

― Loren Eiseley

This quote made me think.

Am I like the man who felt it too much trouble and I too unimportant to stop and make a small difference thinking that it wouldn't matter in the grand scheme of life?

Or am I the one who does it anyway even if I never see the end result?

Most of the time we are so wrapped up in our own particular life and problems that we have no time to make that difference.

Perhaps it should be a higher priority.

Every important change that has happened in this world has always started with one person.

Be that one.

Donna is president and founder of the Carnegie Heritage & Arts Center of Greene County. She can be reached at www.mcklues@gmail.com .