Making a Difference

One day a little boy walked up and down a beach throwing starfish into the ocean. A man approached the little boy and said "Young Man, why are you throwing the starfish into the ocean." The little boy replied "The tide has washed them ashore and if they do not return to the ocean they will drive up and die." The man looked at the little boy and said "well there are thousands of starfish washed up on the beach, you wont make a big difference because you can't help all of them." The little boy paused, and bent down, picked up a starfish, threw it into the ocean, turned to the man and said "I made a difference for that ONE!"

Making a difference in someones life is something we often take for granted. We think that cheering someone up means doing something BIG for them or that its not worth our time because we wont make a difference for everyone.

The greatest thing a person can do is make a difference for ONE person. It can be through a simple phone call, text, email, instant message, facebook comment or even just a hug or smile.

Recently my friend Ashley lost her dog Kovu. Rather than just comment on her status on FB and say "Im sorry." I said sorry and then told her the memory I had of being with her when she brought Kovu home and he threw up on my lap in the car. Doing that made her remember the good times with him when all she wanted to do is cry.

You shouldnt be afraid of ponder over how to make a difference for someone. You never know when a person is going to need it!

A perfect example comes from my own experiences. I was on FB one day and felt the urge to go and comment on an old school friend I had just added but hadnt talked to since sixth grade. I went on her wall and told hey and that I was thinking about her and it would be nice to catch up sometime.

I walked away from my computer after that and when I came back later I had a message from her. I opened it and in the message she explained that earlier in the week her brother was in a car accident, her father had left for deployment, and she was so depressed she was thinking about committing suicide. She went on to tell me that when she got my comment that it really made her snap back to reality and see that life is so unexpected that when it seems murky and full of down right NOTHING that it will eventually pick up!

So go out and MAKE A DIFFERENCE