A
man was walking along a deserted beach at sunset. As he walked
he could see a young boy in the distance, as he drew nearer he
noticed that the boy kept bending down, picking something up and
throwing it into the water. Time and again he kept hurling things
into the ocean.
As
the man approached even closer, he was able to see that the boy
was picking up starfish that had been washed up on the beach and,
one at a time he was throwing them back into the water.
The
man asked the boy what he was doing, the boy replied,"I am
throwing these washed up starfish back into the ocean, or else
they will die through lack of oxygen. "But", said the
man, "You can't possibly save them all, there are thousands
on this beach, and this must be happening on hundreds of beaches
along the coast. You can't possibly make a difference." The
boy smiled, bent down and picked up another starfish, and as he
threw it back into the sea, he replied.
