The Starfish Story - Making A Difference

The old man was silent for a while, watching the boy labor away. He didn’t understand the young lad’s enthusiasm and drive; it just didn’t make sense to him at all. Because life had taught him that if he was to spend time doing anything at all, it was better to spend it aiming for the stars, doing big things that made a difference with a bang.

“Young man” he said, “on this stretch of beach alone, there must be more than one hundred stranded starfish. Around the next corner, there must be at least one thousand more. This goes on for miles and miles and miles – I’ve done this walk every day for 10 years, and it’s always the same. There must be millions of stranded starfish! I hate to say it, but you’ll never make a difference.”

It Makes A Difference To That One!

In response, and without missing a beat, the boy picked up a starfish and threw it into the water, saying, “well I just made a difference to that one.” Then he picked another and threw it, “and that one.” And so one after another, the boy picked and threw starfish into the lifesaving waters, each time repeating himself to the man, “it made a difference to that one, and that one, and now this one…” And on and on the boy went, making a difference one starfish at a time.

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Make Your Mark

The starfish story teaches two important lessons; well-meaning people can discourage and stop you from helping or making a difference in small but important ways. And it also teaches the importance of small contributions.

“You don’t have the power to effect meaningful change”, “this is too big a problem for you”, “I know this problem very well, you cannot solve it.” Have you ever been told any of these? And did you buy into the pessimism?

You see, small contributions can have ripple effects that go far beyond what contributors can see, and so even though you may not see a huge, immediate impact, you are making a difference, helping reduce the magnitude of a problem and saving someone along the line.

Take the issue of racism for example, it is huge, old and rooted firmly in ways we cannot begin to image. But also imagine, if each parent in their own way decided to tackle the issue of racism and racial injustice in their home. would the roots weaken? Would it make a difference to classmates, teachers and friends? Would it eventually make a difference to society?

And also, just imagine if the man who stood idly by and offered unsolicited discouragement had saved one starfish each time he had walked that stretch of beach – he’d have saved 3,650 in ten years. But instead, he let 3,650 starfish go to their deaths because he didn’t believe it mattered.

So the next time you get chance to make a small difference, don’t think of the big picture. Just do it – after all, it might not make a difference to you, but to somebody else, it might.