The Star Thrower
I usually find inspirational short stories cheesy and trite, but I read this at How to Save the World and liked it enough to want to share it with you:
The Star Thrower, by Loren Eiseley
Once upon a time, there was a wise man who used to go to the ocean to do his writing. He had a habit of walking on the beach before he began his work. One day, as he was walking along the shore, he looked down the beach and saw a human figure moving like a dancer. He smiled to himself at the thought of someone who would dance to the day, and so, he walked faster to catch up.
As he got closer, he noticed that the figure was that of a young man, and that what he was doing was not dancing at all. The young man was reaching down to the shore, picking up small objects, and throwing them into the ocean. He came closer still and called out “Good morning! May I ask what it is that you are doing?”
The young man paused, looked up, and replied “Throwing starfish into the ocean.”
“I must ask, then, why are you throwing starfish into the ocean?” To this, the young man replied, “The sun is up and the tide is going out. If I don’t throw them in, they’ll die.”
Upon hearing this, the wise man commented, “But, young man, do you not realize that there are miles and miles of beach and there are starfish all along every mile? You can’t possibly make a difference!”
At this, the young man bent down, picked up yet another starfish, and threw it into the ocean. As it met the water, he said, “It made a difference for that one.”
You make a difference to someone, don’t you think?
I agree that a key to self management is self esteem. I would offer that true life inspiration happens when you find something you love to do and make it a part of your everyday experience. Here’s an exercise:
1. Write down 10 things you love to do or that bring you the most joy. I call this the “You List”
2. Then record how many times a day you do one of the things on your list
3. Give each day of the week a rating from 1-10
4. Your best day usually comes out to be the day you do the most things on your “You List”
I can easily relate to the first part of the story, in the past I was one of those people pretending you have done something and then be very uncomfortable when someone asks more detailed questions.
It is not a good feeling and being upfront from the beginning really saves you the embarassment later.