Ready for a story that might just change your life? You know that feeling you get, when synchronicity throws something at you 3 times in as many days? Well that’s why I have to share this story with you.
I have “accidentally” stumbled across this story in the strangest and most unpredictable of places in the last few days.
It reached me at a point where I had been making a massive effort to help people, but everything seemed to be going wrong!
And it helped me decide to “adopt a starfish mentality”.
My invitation to you today is to read the story and then see if a “starfish mentality” might work for you, too!
A wise man who used to go to the ocean to do his writing had a habit of walking on the beach before he began his work.
Time to adopt a starfish mentality?
One day, as he was walking along the shore, he looked down the beach and saw a person in the distance, dancing. He smiled to himself at the thought of someone who would dance on the beach in the morning. So he walked faster to catch them up and say hello.
As he got closer, he noticed the dancer was a young man, and that he wasn’t actually dancing. He was reaching down to the beach, picking up small objects, and throwing them into the sea.
The man approached and asked the young man what he was doing.
The young man paused, looked up, and replied “Throwing starfish into the water.”
“Why are you throwing starfish into the sea?” came the surprised response.
The young man replied, “The sun is up and the tide is going out. Unless I throw them in, they will die.”
Upon hearing this, the wise man said, “But, young man, do you not realize that there are miles and miles of beach and there are starfish all the way along? You can’t possibly make a difference!”
The young man bent down, picked up yet another starfish, and threw it into the ocean. As it reached the water he said, “I made a difference for that one.”
For me, this story is about spreading miracles.
You never know the impact a simple action might have in someone else’s life.
I remember a former work colleague, a friend of mine, back in my “employed” days, who was always incredibly patient with me, as I was learning the basics of web design and code writing. I would go back to him, day after day, with exactly the same question. I had a total mental block on “code”. Yet he always patiently explained, again and again, what I needed to know. He never showed irritation or impatience. And eventually I learned.
I left that employer to start my own business, over a decade ago. And websites have always been core to my work. Over the years, I have created various personal development sites. A few months ago, we did a quick tot-up and realised that the inspirational resources on these sites had touched the lives of over 3 million people across the world, over that time.
And I suddenly realised that none of it would have happened, had my former colleague not taken the time to be patient and help me build up my skills and confidence. Without him, I never would have dared to utilise the internet to spread the articles and resources I was creating.
I suspect he had no idea where his kindness was going to lead. But I’m certainly one starfish who is really pleased to have been thrown back into the sea!
Is there someone in your life who has made a difference to you through a simple act of kindness?
How about taking a moment to thank them, right now?
You could send them an email. You could give them a call. You could write them a letter. Or even tell them via the comments box! 😉
