Starfish

A young boy was with his parents at the beach one day. Towards the end of the day, he strayed from his parents. Walking down the beach, he came to a stretch where many small starfish had been washed up, and were now drying up in the sun. The boy was horrified that all these thousands of starfish, which could be seen for over a mile down the shoreline, would all die. He quickly began picking them up and throwing them back into the sea. One by one, he hurled each little starfish into the water in a desperate urge to keep them alive.

Meanwhile, the boy’s father had been worrying about him, and began looking for him. After a while, he saw him in the distance throwing these starfish back out to sea. He ran to him, and was joyful that he had found his son. "Son, I was worried about you. What is it that you are doing?" said the boy’s father. "I have to save the star fish!" explained the boy. The father laughed to himself, and said, "But son, there are so many star fish. Do you really think that you can make a difference?" The boy paused for a moment, then picked up another starfish and threw it into the sea. Then he turned to his father and said, "Made a difference for that one!" And so the boy continued.