I have gotten a lot of inspiration these past few days. Between notes, e-mails and group support meetings. Today I read a posting that made me a bit misty because the person listed all the ways I touched her during this process and thanked me. It brought me back to my Starfish Story. We all have little tidbits that pull us through the darkest of times. While I recommend Robert Fulghum for inspirational reading, one story he wrote made me feel that he had zeroed in on my heart.
An elderly man was walking along the beach one day. Ahead of him lay thousands of starfish that had been brought in by the tide, now they lay dying, baking in the sun. The old man came upon a little boy, running with all his might and picking up starfish and throwing them back into the sea.
The old man watched this action for a while...this small little boy trying so hard to accomplish such an overwhelming task as to save these starfish. Finally the man approaches the little boy, who stops, looks up and says "HI". The old man says to him "Son I have been watching you run along the beach, throwing the starfish back to the sea. You are just one little boy and there are thousands of starfish, how can you feel you will make a difference in their lives?"
The little boy smiled ran and picked up a star fish and threw it far back into the sea, then he turned, looked at the man and said "I made a difference to that one".
That is what I intend to do. I know I do not have the power to save the world, but I can touch a persons life, I can help someone along the way and if I touch just one person through my own experiences, then I have accomplished my goal. Right now I know many caterpillars in the process of becoming Butterflies, I know many Butterflies that are still wet and struggling to fly and there are also those Butterflies that have been soaring for a while and are growing tired and need some inspiration. I cannot touch ALL of them, but I can make a difference to some of them
and that is my mission..just to make a difference.
A special thanks to those who have allowed me into there lives...you've made a difference to me also.
