Change the World, One Act of Kindness at a Time
Are you familiar with the starfish story? A man walking along the beach sees a young boy tossing starfish back into the ocean, one by one. The man approached the boy to ask what he was doing. The boy explained, “The sun is up and the tide is going out. If I don’t throw them in, they’ll die.”
The man saw the futility in this effort. So many miles of beach. So many starfish washed up upon it. So little time. Despite his best efforts, the boy would hardly make a dent and he told him this. The boy, however, saw things differently. As he picked up another starfish and tossed it back into the water he said, “It made a difference for that one.”
The story, which has been adapted many times from Loren Eisely’s The Star Thrower, raises an interesting question for us. Are you the man looking out at the world and seeing futility in small gestures, or are you the boy who understands that even changing one person’s world makes an impact? Now is the time to pull on the optimism and determination of the boy. Now is the time to pick your mission and offer your talents.
Volunteering gives you the opportunity to stretch beyond the parameters of your day job and test drive new skills. Likewise, volunteering lets you exercise skill-muscles you’ve not tapped into as your career has advanced.