Perseverance story: What does making a difference look like

Once upon a time, there was an old man who used to go to the ocean to do his writing. He had a habit of walking on the beach before he began his work to get inspiration. One day he was walking along the shore and as he looked down the beach, he saw a human figure moving like a dancer. He smiled to himself thinking someone was dancing on the beach on such a beautiful day.

So he began to walk faster to catch up. As he got closer, he saw that it was a young man and that the young man wasn’t dancing, but instead, he was reaching down to the shore, picking up something and very gently throwing it into the ocean. As he got closer he called out, “Good morning! What are you doing?”

The young man paused, looked up and replied, “Throwing starfish in the ocean.” “I guess I should have asked, why are you throwing starfish in the ocean?” replied the old man. The boy replied, “the sun is up and the tide is going out. And if I don’t throw them in they’ll die.” With disbelief, the old man responded “but, young man, don’t you realize that there are miles and miles of the beach and starfish all along with it. You can’t possibly make a difference!”

The young man listened politely. Then bent down, picked another starfish and threw it into the sea, past the breaking waves and said, “It made a difference for that one.”