Dying Man’s Daily Journal – Starfish Story


A woman was walking along a beach when she saw a man scooping up starfish off the sand and tossing them into the waves. Curious, she asked him what he was doing. He replied “When the tide goes out it leaves these starfish stranded on the beach. They will dry up and die before the tide comes back in, so I am throwing them back into the sea where they can live.”

The woman laughed, “But this beach is miles long and there are hundreds of stranded starfish, most will die before you reach them – do you really think throwing back a few starfish is going to make a difference?”

The man picked up a starfish and looked at it and threw it into the waves. “It makes a difference to this one” he said.

I received this wonderful story as part of a comment left by my new good blogging friend, Jennie. I thank you so much for this Jennie, the story is so inspirational. There really is so much we can all learn from it.

In the story here we have a man seemingly taking on a hopeless or maybe even seemingly a useless task. There are miles of beach all of which he alone can’t possibly cover to save all of the starfish. But, does he give it up as a useless or hopeless task, NO. He realizes you Maybe can’t mean the world to everyone, but you can be the world to someone. He was doing his part, to help the world and meant the world to those starfish he did save.

I meant it when I said he was doing his part to help the world, he realize that every little bit counts, every little bit helps. He was showing his true character and the size of his heart by helping a living thing in trouble. I can only imagine that a man with a heart this big would be also helping other people in anyway he could with that same determined effort. Realizing every little bit helps, no extra effort is to small and no one would be seen as being not worth his help. He would just do what he could and I am sure felt better in his heart for knowing he did what he could.

Can you imagine what the world would be like if we all did that, had that attitude. If we all just did what we could instead of just throwing up our hands in despair, thinking this task, this problem, whatever is just to big, so big that nothing I could ever do would make a difference. That thinking is just so wrong as truly every little bit helps. Love is what make this world go around. It is the one thing there really can never be to much of. It truly is a case of the more the better. You have it in your heart, an inexhaustible supply of love. By showing it, sharing it through a simple act of kindness to another can be your way of doing your bit to make the world a better place.

Sharing this love can and will have its own rewards as you will feel the very love in your heart that you are giving away is growing, more than you can imagine.

6 Responses to Dying Man’s Daily Journal – Starfish Story

  1. Thank you for that post, and for sharing your story! You are truly an inspiration to everyone who is facing a challenge they feel they cannot overcome! May God Bless You!

    Dear tellinthatruth, I thank you so much for your visit to my site, and the kind comment. Hope you stop by again.
    Bill

  2. Mel says:

    Thank you, Jennie!!

    And thank you Bill.

    You really have no idea how much I needed to be reminded of the message the two of you brought my way.
    Cuz it does matter what I do today–as it matters what each of us does.

    That ripple affect of one person — holds magnificent things.
    And boy, thanks to both of you reminding me…….did I make ripples! 🙂

    *HUGE hugs and deepest, heartfelt thanks*

    Hi Mel, you are so right about the beauty of the message, credit goes to Jennie, as she sent it to me.
    We should never underestimate the power of the ripples we create, be they good or bad. All good from all I always hope and pray. Good from you, I know for sure.
    Take care my friend
    Bill

  3. Jo Hart says:

    What a beautiful message. Something I think we all need to be reminded of now and again.
    Sometimes it’s the small things in life that make a difference.

    Thanks Bill, and thanks Jennie.

    I think we all owe a big thanks to Jennie for sharing this, it is a wonderful message.
    Hope all is well in your life, my friend
    Bill

  4. Sharon says:

    Thank you for this post Bill. I felt the same way when I read about Ms Novak http://armiesofliberation.com. She is also a ripple effect; single handedly (almost) with one blog post after another, she began a fight for a journalist in Yemen.

    I have decided to create my own ripple effect (I wrote about it here – http://thereservoir.wordpress.com/2008/05/21/i-can-change-the-world/).

    Thank you for this inspiration. I really love your posts. (Sorry about all the links).

  5. rhosie says:

    nice post… each of us can make change and difference in this world, no matter how big or small it is…what matter is the willingness to extend our heart toward the others..
    Godbless

  6. […] Dying Man’s Daily Journal – Starfish Story […]

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