An old man walked up a shore littered with thousands of starfish,beached and dying after a storm.
A young man was picking them up and flinging them back into the ocean."
Why do you bother?" the old man scoffed."
You're not saving enough to make a difference."
The young man picked up another starfish and sent it spinning back to the water.
"Made a difference to that one," he said.
Everyone can make a difference.
Sometimes my focus becomes narrow, the world around me shrinks down like a heavy wool blanket and I fall into a trap I call the "woe is me’s." "My shoulder hurts and I can’t sleep"," I can’t afford a flat screen TV", " I don’t make enough money", " I am not making the most of my life"," I will never find my soul mate", " I won’t leave a mark on the world", "my life isn’t making a difference". I turn inward and refuse to see the "bigger picture"around me.
I find myself worrying about the future, about the impact my life will have in the evolution of the world. I lay awake and dwell on possibilities and scenario’s that are far out of my control...and in my mind - everything becomes about me. These self induced pity parties can last a day, a few days, until at last for whatever reason I seem to once again poke my head out of the sand and resume life as usual.
A couple of things in the last day or so have jolted me back to the real world. Watching a friend walk the tightrope of real life waiting for the birth of a great niece while at the same time mourning the loss of a mother almost exactly a year ago and experiencing firsthand the circle of life.
Seeing my own mother conquering pain and disability to simply see a concert and celebrating the fact she would not have to cross yet one more activity off of her ever dwindling list of things she can still do.
Being open to the bigger picture makes me much more aware that the only thing I can count on is making a difference in the lives of the people I care about the most. If I do that, if I make a conscious effort to strive for happiness and contentment in the small moments of everyday, then I HAVE made a difference in my life and the lives of others. Everyone’s plate is full enough, but sometimes all it takes is a small act on your part to truly affect the life of another.
1 comment:
I wonder if you'll look back and see this!!!
Another Blogger, Kit, sent me the Starfish story, but not in the same format as yours. I love turning prose into poetry, so I've just written a rhyming version. On looking for an illustration on Google I came across the starfish picture which has led me to YOU! What a coincidence!
Anyway, here's my poem
A SINGLE STARFISH
The beach lay littered with starfish
The tide was running out
Receding was the water
They could not live without.
A hundred thousand starfish
Like stars in the sky at night
Lay beached on terra firma
Unable to put up a fight.
Each one would die by the evening
When the sea came rushing in.
Theirs' was a hopeless battle,
One that they could not win.
Then I saw a stranger walking
Along the sandy beach,
Passing the dying starfish
Lying within his reach.
I saw him bend and take one
Hurling it into the sea.
I saw him bend and throw one,
And then throw two and three.
And still around him lying
Were the thousands still close to death.
What difference was he making?
He could have saved his breath.
'Why save a single starfish
When so many are left to die?'
I asked as the man drew nearer
And I managed to catch his eye.
'You can't make a bit of difference,
The dying will still go on!
You simply can't keep throwing
Until every one has gone!
There's not a chance that you'll prevent
The inevitable slaughter!'
Yet still he bent and still he threw
Starfish into the water!
I laughed unkindly at his deed
'Why don't you just ignore them!
Do think a single starfish here
Will know what you're doing for them?'
Then, he said, as he bent to a starfish
And readied himself for a throw
'The world wont know the difference,
But, believe me, THIS starfish will know!'
You will also be able to read it on my web page
http://www.rinklyrimes.blogspot.com/
Brenda Bryant
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