Making A Difference

Good Morning,

Many of you noticed and commented that you did not receive your Daily Buddha message yesterday. I was unable to write yesterday due to a pressing schedule at my work. I apoligize and hope to not miss another.

At work we currently have a saying we use whenever we encounter a new or difficult situation or client: We must walk before we run. This simple saying brings me to a story I wanted to share: A friend of mine was walking down a deserted Mexican beach at sunset. As he walked along, he began to see another man in the distance. As he grew nearer, he noticed that the local native kept leaning down, picking something up and throwing it out into the water. Time and again he kept hurling things out into the ocean.

As my friend approached even closer, he noticed that the man was picking up starfish that had washed up on the beach, and, one at a time, he was throwing them back into the water.

My friend was puzzled. He approached the man and said. "Good evening, friend. I was wondering what you are doing."

"I'm throwing these starfish back into the ocean. You see, it's low tide right now and all of these starfish have been washed up onto the shore. If I don't throw them back into the sea, they'll die up here from lack of oxygen."

"I understand," my friend replied, "but there must be thousands of starfish on this beach. You can't possibly get to all of them. There are simply too many. And don't you realize this is probably happening on hundreds of beaches all up and down this coast. Can't you see that you can't possibly make a difference?"

The local native smiled, bent down and picked up yet another starfish, and as he threw it back into the sea, he replied, "Made a difference to that one!"

Have a great day and remember that we each make a difference and collectively that is much grander than one can see. Although we may feel like we are only walking, we make our world one small step at a time.

Peace and Love, Jim
jim@thedailybuddha.com
www.thedailybuddha.com