Walking with my kids on the beach last night, we saw some starfish washed up on the beach. My daughter delighted in scooping them up with her beach shovel and tossing them back into the ocean. I delighted in telling my kids the story of the little boy and the starfish.
A little boy was at the beach one day. He noticed up and down the beach there were hundreds, maybe thousands, of starfish washed up on the sand.
He gently lifted them one by one, ran to the edge of the surf, and returned them back to the ocean. As each starfish floated away the boy would smile for a moment, wishing the starfish a long, happy life.
An old man watched the boy for awhile until he couldn't resist sharing his experienced and worldly view with the happy youth.
"Boy, there are more starfish on this beach than you could ever save. Look around, what you're doing can't possibly make much of a difference on this gigantic beach."
The boy looked puzzled for a moment, then gently picked up another starfish and placed it in the water. Another smile. Another wish.
"It made a difference to that one," the boy said confidently.
Forget what the world says. Forget what your friends say. Forget what the negative voices in your own head say. You have gifts that make the world better one moment, one person at a time.
Maybe your gift is lifting others up. Maybe your gift is serving the hungry. Maybe your gift is project management or bookkeeping or making the floors of your building sparkle.
The thing to learn from the starfish story is that not everyone will recognize your gift or how you make a difference. That doesn't mean you don't make a difference. You do. Everything you do makes a difference. You choose what kind of difference you'll make.
Find a starfish today and gently toss it back into the ocean.
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