Legend of the Starfish Revisited

I love the story of the Starfish! It is one of my all time favorites.

The little boy running up and down the coastline, throwing starfish back into the life giving ocean water. He knows he cannot save them all, but he dilegently picks up the next one and tosses it towards the waterline. The old man tells the boy that he can not make a difference, because the boy can not save all the starfish stranded on the beach. The message given to us by this young boy is so full of truth- "it made a difference to that one!"

If I can make a difference in this world, it will be one person at a time. And it will make a difference to 'that one' person.


I had a thought about the story. I imagine that the stranded starfish lay on the beach, even though they struggle, the starfish do not have the capacity to get themselves to the waters of the receding tide. I wish I knew more about this struggle and maybe I will try and Google it. I would have to believe that a few of these stranded starfish actually find a way to survive until the tide water returns. They are the survivors, the ones that endure to the end. They take charge of their lives and do whatever it takes to achieve their goal. They are the builders and the winners.

Now I also for some reason started to think about the whales that we hear about every now and then, that get stranded on a beach. They are determined to go a certain direction, even though that direction is clearly not an ideal pathway. For some reason they get lost and when found near the beach, they try to overcome the obstacle. However the beach is one of those obstacles that a whale can not conquer.

They must do PDCA. (Plan, Do, Check & Adjust) They already planned their travel path. They were doing what they planned. Now they hit an obstacle and need to check to see if they are getting the desired results. No, the obstacle is too large to overcome. So they need to adjust their plan. They need to choose a new path. Then if they continue to Plan, Do, Check and Adjust they should reach their goal.

The whales for some reason will not take no for an answer. Sometimes in life that is a great personal trait, but we must also check out why the no is being said. If the no is for a good reason all we have to do is adjust our plan and do it again. Isn't life interesting? We can learn from almost everything we see, hear and are exposed to. We are truly blessed by our creator.

I thank my Heavenly Father for all that he has blessed me with. For my family, especially my wonderful parents. I am grateful for my awesome husband and our two very unique children. I am so grateful to be alive in this day and age of the world. It is such an amazing time. I am so grateful for the ability I have to serve others. I love to help people all the time. I know I fall short often, but I am trying to 'see a need and fill that need' whenever I can.

Please take time to reflect on your blessings and pray to be a tool to help the Lord bless others.

My love goes out to all of my blog readers. (Thanks to all 2 of you for reading my stuff!)

Shari

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