What Difference Can We Make?

Today I will share to you a short inspiring story about a starfish.

Do you know Patrick Starfish the friend of Spongebob Square Pants? No, I'm just kidding about Patrick.


Here goes the real one, I came to a coffee shop one afternoon when I accidentally surfed on this inspiring story about a starfish that leads me to sharing it. The story goes like this....

There was a man taking a morning walk at the beach. He saw that along with the morning tide came hundreds of starfish and when the tide receded, they were left behind and with the morning sun rays, they would die. The tide was fresh and the starfish were alive. The man took a few steps, picked one and threw it into the water. He did that repeatedly.

Right behind him there was another person who couldn't understand what this man was doing. He caught up with him and asked, "What are you doing? There are hundreds of starfish. How many can you help? What difference does it make?" This man did not reply, took two more steps, picked up another one, threw it into the water, and said, "It makes a difference to this one."

While reading this my mind opened up to new realizations:

1. I realized that we don't invite our friends to change their lives. What the man did is he throw the starfish to the water to make a change. Do we throw our friends to the water to make a change in their lives? or we ask them to get to the water? See, they're helpless starfish on the shore like ordinary people getting and loosing their job, the water come and go leaving them under the heat of the sun like money that flows in and out of our lives leaving us in a continuous expenses to survive. 

2. When you see a person doing something uncommon what do you do? He must be crazy trying to make first world Philippines! Did you even ask how many Filipinos will benefit on that crazy idea or How many Filipino families lives will change if that happened? I realized that if the other man didn't help throwing the starfish back in the ocean how many starfish would survive and how many will die? If we keep on questioning the dreams of people around us will that make a change? If we keep on being mediocre like everybody else will that make a difference? 

Lastly, Who are you in the story? The sun is there and it will always be there. 

If you're a starfish, where are you now? At the shore? or in the Ocean?

If you're the first man, how many starfish have you thrown alone? How many can you throw with the help of others? Remember: It is the little things that make a big difference.

If you're the second man, will you help throwing a starfish and making a difference? or will you just stand there staring at the first man and waiting for things to happen in the life of those starfishes before you make a difference?

"It's about the difference we made to other people's lives that make us more than a human"

-COOKIE PASCUAL