One quiet morning after a storm, an old man walked along a beach covered with starfish—hundreds, maybe thousands—washed ashore by the tide.
He quickly picked up a starfish, and gently tossed it back into the ocean. Step by step, he repeated the act, throwing one after another into the waves.
A younger stopped jogging, approached him, curiously asked. “Why are you doing this? I have been jogging some kilometers and there were plenty all ashore. You can’t possibly save them all. Do you really think it makes a difference?”
The old man smiled, bent down, picked up another starfish, and tossed it into the ocean and said, “It made a difference to this one.”
Moved by the response, the young man joined him, and together they continued to throw starfishes back into the ocean.
The message is simple yet profound: you don’t have to change the whole world to make a difference. Sometimes, all it takes is starting with one… one person at a time.
With my soft skills, I know I might not be able to change the entire world, but I hold on to the hope that I can touch a life, make someone feel seen, heard, and valued—even if it’s just one person at a time.
And with that hope, I’m ready to move forward… to the next.
