Vol. 13, No. 1• November 2008

The Starfish

As the old man walked the beach at dawn, he noticed a young man ahead of him picking up starfish and flinging them into the sea.

Finally catching up with the youth, he asked him why he was doing this. The boy answered that the stranded starfish would die if left in the morning sun.

“But the beach goes on for miles, and there are millions of starfish,” countered the old man. “How can you make a difference?”

The young man looked at the starfish in his hand and then threw it to the safety of the waves.

“I made a difference to that one,” he said.

—Anonymous

Copyright � 2008 Jordan Institute for Families