Why bother trying to help others?

One of my favourite stories is the one about the wealthy vacationer strolling along the beautiful white sandy beach near his hotel, early in the morning. There was nobody else up that early except a man some distance away who appeared to be bending down, then throwing something far out into the rolling surf, walking a few steps and then repeating his actions.

The vacationer was curious so he walked in the man's direction. As he drew closer he noticed the man was bending down to pick up little starfish that had been washed ashore by the tide and then was throwing them back into the ocean. When the two men met up, the vacationer asked a question.

"Do these many starfish wash up on the sand every day?" he asked the man.

"Sure do," the man answered. "Poor little guys can't exactly stand up and walk back home, can they?"

The vacationer chuckled at the joke. "But you can't do this every day!"

"Well," the man replied, "I can try!"

"But why bother," the vacationer asked, "if hundreds more starfish are just going to wash ashore tomorrow morning? What difference does what you're doing now make?"

The man smiled, bent down, pick up a stranded starfish lying at their feet, turned to fling it into the waves and then turned back.

"It made a real big difference to that one."

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I often think in grand terms such as "how to end poverty" or "how to prevent homelessness." Those are monumental tasks that I feel are sometimes beyond my capacity to achieve. It's discouraging, but when you break a huge task down, and realize that if you just help one fellow human being TODAY ... you may not save the world but you'll be making a big difference in at least one person's life, right away.

So remember, no matter who you are, whether you're rich or desperately poor, even little acts of generosity make a difference. Imagine if we all did them. The world would be a better place to live a lot quicker.

Peace and good fortune.
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