Once upon a time there was a man who used to go to the ocean to do his writing.
He had a habit of walking on the beach before doing his work.
One day he was walking along the shore.
As he looked down the beach he saw a human figure moving like a dancer.
He smiled to himself to think of someone who would dance to the day.
So he began to walk faster to catch up.
As he got closer he saw that it was an older man and that the man wasn't dancing.
Instead he was reaching down to the shore, picking something up and very gently throwing it into the ocean.
As he got closer he called out, "Good Morning! What are you doing?"
The older man paused, looked up and replied, "Throwing starfish into the ocean."
The man noticed there were hundreds of starfish all washed up on the beach from a storm the night before.
He watched as the man carefully continued to pick up starfish one by one.
"I guess I should've asked why you are throwing starfish into the ocean?"
"The sun is up and the tide is going out. If I don't throw them in- they'll die."
"But don't you realize there are miles and miles of beach and starfish all along it? You can't possibly make a difference!"
He looked at the starfish in his hand as he prepared to throw it into the ocean.
"I'll make a difference to this one!"
