The starfish on the sand!

[Donte]

Tonight's beautiful summer night reminded me one summertime long ago walking on the beach with my parents at twilight. The air was warm and the wet sand under our feet inviting and refreshing. We walked for miles, sometimes talking, other times silently listening to the waves crushing, the seagulls, the wind. We came to a secluded beach where a few starfish had been washed ashore. Then I remembered my dad telling me a story:

'Once there was a man walking on the beach and there were hundreds and hundreds of starfish everywhere on the sand. He started picking them up one by one and throwing them back in the water. Another man was walking by and asked him what was he doing. The man exclaimed that he was throwing them back into the water. "But there are so many of them, thousands maybe, do you think it will make any difference if you throw this one back in?", said the man pointing to the one the guy was holding in his hands and was about to throw back into the water.

"Well, for THIS ONE it will make a difference", the man answered and threw the starfish he was holding back in the water.'

Sometimes we may doubt the power we have in influencing others. We may feel inadequate to help. Or too small. Perhaps overwhelmed by the weight of caring for someone who goes through a tough time while simultaneously we have to juggle so many different issues and challenges. The world is full of need it seems. Every corner there is someone asking for something. At every light we are stopped there is some type of fundraising for good and worthy causes. Sometimes we may wonder, 'what difference does it make?'. It may feel like a drop in the ocean, but like the starfish in the story I was told that night, we can make a difference for that one person, that one situation, the event that we happen to be part of. The one word, gesture, look etc may be all it takes to make a difference at that moment in someone's life.

We may not be Counsellors. We may not be able to give advice or solve anything, but we might be the only person at any particular moment that can hug someone in a time of need, offer a glass of water, give a card, some flowers, an empathetic ear. For a person suffering in anguish, anxious or depressed unable to see the light at the end of the tunnel, we may be the only thing they need at that moment.

Do you have experiences where this has happened to you? When you found yourself in a situation where you knew you made a difference? Tell us about it!

[Donte]

That's so true Elizabeth!

I'm glad a small gesture has gone a long way and this event became pivotal in your relationship with your brother. As you said, we don't need to look too far to find the starfish! They often are in front of us, next to us, all around us...

[Summer Rose]

Thank you, Donte, for the reminder that the starfish are everywhere.

We are bombarded every day with stories of what is wrong in the world--war, death, misery, hunger, despair, etc. From a wider lens, of course, one can see that these events are only newsworthy because they are different from the ordinary. The millions of starfish stories from around the world don't make the news. Your thread is great because it is a reminder that the world is more good than bad. It gives us hope.

[PamelaR]

Thank you to all those who have shared their wonderful experiences - Donte, White Rose, Summer Rose, Quercus, Elizabeth CP. It does give hope for us. We don't have to listen to all the negative news that gets aired. Interestingly, they usually put 1 good story at the end (generally about something furry, cuddly or the like) to round off their awful stories.

While some good ones like you've shared at times get aired, they aren't the norm. I'm so pleased for this thread - thank you Donte.

My story is set in Oxford, England. While backpacking through Europe, my husband and I stopped in a hostel in Oxford and hired some bicycles. The main city streets are cobbled, something totally new to me and on a bike that was different. Just the makings for a fall of the bike. A woman motorist stopped, jumped out and asked if I was okay. I was a little dazed and was just going to get back on the bike and cycle off. No way, she popped me in her car and took me to the local hospital to make sure everything was all okay. Which it was. How generous was that. She could have left me there for an ambulance, but she didn't. She went out of her way to make things easier for me. Very grateful to her!

That is only one of the many stories I have that demonstrate there are so many good people out there!! Hope is in the air.

[Donte]

That's beautiful PamelaR,

Reminded me years ago in an isolated village in Bali, I left my credit card behind at a small shop near the volcano (about 4 hours out of the main area where I was staying). The shopkeeper locked the shop, popped onto a scooter and drove about an hour until he eventually caught up with us and return the card to me! I was dumbfounded! It was unfathomable! My jaw dropped and I was overjoyed! Unbelievable! Yes, hope is in the air! I still remember that day! 🙂

[Quercus]

Hello everyone,

I agree with Pamela, we need more feel good stories. The best thing ever are the everyday true feel good stories like these.

Your story about money reminds me Donte' of a good deed.

After my shift at work I was cleaning and picked up a little toiletries bag (one of those crappy airline ones that everyone gets and throws away). I don't know why I opened it but I did and inside was rolls of cash. Thousands.

So I got my supervisor to witness counting the amount and took it to lost property. The look on people's faces was comical but the idea of stealing it had never even occurred to me. This was someone's goliday money! Can you imagine getting out of your taxi or to the hotel and realising all your money was gone in a foreign country? That was what I was thinking about.

Management told me the person came back a little later in a panic. And was stunned to find it all there. I like to think someone oyt there thinks Australia's are kind because of that.