Inspiration
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We came across this story some years back, when we were just starting
out, and think it captures our sentiments pretty well...
One
evening, after a long summer rain, a man was walking along the
beach. As he breathed in the cool sea air, he noticed that the
storm had washed up thousands of starfish that were now stranded
on the beach. As the man strolled along the beach, he could
see a shadowy figure in the distance. At first, he thought that
the figure was dancing and he was delighted to see such a celebration
of life. |
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As
he got closer to the figure, however, he noticed that the figure
was not dancing, but repeatedly bending down to the shore and
throwing something out to sea. As he approached, he noticed
that the once shadowy figure was a small girl. She was methodically
picking up starfish from the shore and tossing them back into
the surf. The man paused and then asked the little girl, "Why
are you throwing those starfish back in the ocean?" |
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The
little girl replied with zeal, "These starfish are stranding
on the sand. If I leave them here, the sun will dry them out
and they will die. So, I'm throwing them back into the ocean
so that they can live." The man was quiet. He looked down for
a moment. He then looked at the miles and miles of shoreline
and the miles and miles of stranded starfish. He said to the
young child, "there must be a million starfish along the beach!
How can you possibly expect to make a difference?" |
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The
child pondered the man's words for only a moment. She then leaned
over, reached down, carefully picked up a starfish stranded
on the sand. She pulled her arm back and gently tossed the starfish
in the rolling surf. She turned to the man and smiled.
"I just made a difference for that one." |
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