That is another way of stating the "Starfish" speech. I probably heard the Starfish speech 20 times when I worked at the Homeless shelter because the Director, at that time, repeated it during every single public event we attended. Here it is:
"You may have heard of the starfish story. It’s about an old man who is walking on the beach. A big storm has passed and the beach is full of starfish.
The old man notices a boy in the distance who repeatedly picks something up and throws it in the water. As the man approaches, he asks the boy what he’s doing. The boy says that he’s throwing the starfish back into the ocean because if left on the beach under the hot sun, they would die.
The old man replies, “there are thousands of them! “You won’t make much difference.”
The boy picks up another starfish and throws it back into the water. Smiling, he turns to the old man and says, “I made a difference to that one!”
I’ve heard variations of Loren Eiseley’s “The Star Thrower” aka the starfish story and was reminded of it while in yoga class this week. The teacher told it during Shavasana (the resting pose). It was a needed reminder that even the seemingly small things we do can have a positive impact on someone’s life."
