Starfish

I recall a wonderful little story about a boy walking along the beach at sunrise. He was picking up starfish and throwing them back into the ocean. An elderly gentleman witnessing this morning spectacle walked up to the young boy and asking him why he was picking up the starfish and throwing them back into the ocean. The boy said to the gentleman "when the sun comes up it will bake the starfish and they will die". The elderly man replied to the boy "son there are miles and miles of beach and millions of starfish, do you really think your effort will make a difference." The boy picked up another starfish showed it to the elderly man and as he cast into the ocean he said, "it made a difference to that one". 

That is life pure and simple, we can and do make a difference in the smallest of ways. We can look at all problems as mountains to high to climb, or we can see them as a series of hills and step over them one at a time. We matter, our efforts make a difference, what we do counts, and the results can be seen one person at a time. The day will come when we will be the boy picking up the starfish and the day will come when we will be the starfish. Also, the day will come when we will be the elderly gentleman questioning if our efforts even matter. That little story encompasses so much about life. It gives hope to the hopeless and it encourages the doubters to action. 

Life is journey with more obstacles than we could count. The moments in time are like the grains of sand on the beach. Each moment like each grain different with it's own unique story. It is up to us to take the moments and the grains of sand and make a life out of it. 

Last week I spoke to a friend that is fighting stage 4 cancer. We spoke in length about life, the ups the downs, the joys and the hardships. All in all it is simply life she said. We walk, we learn, we make mistakes, we forgive, we grow, we love, we share, we live, we die. It is all just life. I think as the conversation ensued I began to understand the wisdom that I was gaining. Life is about living not dying. While we are breathing we must be living. While we are living we must share hope with others so they can pay it forward and share hope too. 

No matter what stage in life we are in the fact remains we are alive. Just think what life could be like if we all helped each other when times were tough, we forgave when mistakes were made, we accepted responsibility when we didn't have to, we stepped in when others stepped out. We decided to make a difference when others saw the task as useless. Life is about living not dying, love is about forgiving not judging, and hope is about sharing not keeping. I am glad I was picked up from the beach and cast back into the living waters of life, now I in turn walk the beach and help give life back when others see it as useless. 

peace to you

Dale