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Learning from old men and starfish

What a story. It is a story I heard long ago that I should tell you about, too. It may help change a life. At the first glimmer of light of dawn, a young man walked at the edge of the seashore. There had been a storm the night before, and he knew this would be a good morning to find seashells. With pants rolled up above his ankles, he walked along looking down for what treasures he might find. Then the young man looked up and could barely make out a figure of a very old man ahead of him. The young man watched as the old man bent down to pick up an object from the sand and toss it into the surf. As he got closer, and the light of morning began to turn the sun and sand pink, he noticed that the old man was picking up starfish that had been tossed up on the beach by the storm. There were thousands of them, but one by one, the old man picked them up, and tossed them back into the surf. Nearing the old man the young man introduced himself, and said, “Excuse me, but there are thousands of starfish stranded here on the beach. You can’t possibly make a difference!” The old man smiled at him, and then picked up another starfish. He tossed the starfish back into the sea. “I certainly made a difference to that one, didn’t I son?” That old man did make a difference, like someone made a difference for me. Back when I was a young man, only thirteen, I had a terrible accident. We had our car totaled in a high-speed car accident. I had severe back spasms for hours a day. Luckily, my mother brought me to her chiropractor. Two weeks later I felt much better, but I also had a goal in life, a purpose. My mother and her chiropractor changed my life forever. Many people never find their purpose throughout life. But, I did. I guess the point of this story is that small things can make a big difference in other people’s life. Try to make positive things happen for others, and positive things will happen to you. Just a small suggestion can change some body’s life forever, for the better or worse.