Can You Make A Difference

An old man was walking on the beach one morning after a storm. In the distance he could see someone moving like a dancer.

As he came closer, he saw it was a young woman picking up starfish and gently throwing them into the ocean. He remarked "Young lady, why are you throwing starfish into the ocean?"

She replied "The sun is coming up and the tide is going out and if I don’t throw them into the water they will die".

"But young lady, do you not realise that there are many miles of beach and thousands of starfish so how could you possibly make a difference?"

The young woman listened politely, then bent down and picked up another starfish and threw it into the sea.

She said to the old man "It made a difference to that one".