Making a Difference

A well known author was vacationing on a beautiful coast. One morning, very early, he was walking along the beach.

In the distance he saw a lone figure dancing. Fascinated by this celebration of the dawn, he moved closer.

It was then he realized that the young man was not dancing, but was picking objects up from the beach and tossing them out into the sea with a graceful movement.

As he approached the young man, he saw that he was throwing starfish. "Why in the world are you throwing starfish into the water?" he asked.

"If the starfish are still on the beach when the tide goes out and the sun rises higher in the sky, they will die," replied the young man as he continued tossing them out to sea.

"That's ridiculous! There are thousands of miles of beach and millions of starfish. You can't really believe that what you're doing could possibly make a difference?" the observer countered.

The young man picked up another star fish, paused thoughtfully and remarked as he tossed it out into the waves, "It makes a difference to this one."