An Inspirational Story

While walking along a beach, an young gentleman saw someone in the distance leaning down, picking something up and throwing it into the ocean.

As he got closer, he noticed that the figure was that of a elderly man, 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 it is that you are doing?"

The elderly man paused, looked up, and replied "Throwing starfish into the ocean."

The young man smiled, and said, "I must ask, then, why are you throwing starfish into the ocean?"

To this, the elderly man replied, "The sun is up and the tide is going out. If I don't throw them in, they'll die."

Upon hearing this, the young observer commented, "But old man do you not realize that there are miles and miles of beach and there are starfish all along every mile? You can't possibly make a difference!"

The elderly man listened politely. Then he bent down, picked up another starfish, threw it into the back into the ocean past the breaking waves and said, "It made a difference for that one."

I just love this story! Don't you?

(I did not write this story. The author is unknown.)