The Starfish
Once upon a time there was a wise man that used to go to the ocean to do his writing.
One day he was walking along the shore. As he looked down the beach, he saw a human figure moving like a dancer. He smiled to himself to think of someone who would dance to the day. So he began to walk faster to catch up. As he got closer, he saw that it was a young man and the young man wasn't dancing, but instead he was reaching down to the shore, picking up something and very gently throwing it into the ocean.
As he got closer he called out, "Good morning! What are you doing?" The young man paused, looked up and replied, "Throwing starfish in the ocean."
"I guess I should have asked, why are you throwing starfish in the ocean?" "The sun is up and the tide is going out. And if I don't throw them in they'll die."
"But, young man, don't you realize that there are miles and miles of beach and starfish all along it. You can't possibly make a difference!" The young man listened politely. Then bent down picked another starfish and threw it into the sea, past the breaking waves and said,
"It made a difference for that one."
The Twins
One day a set of twins decided to move to a new town because they felt like they’d seen everything there was to see in their hometown.
They started out together, but somehow along the way one twin had gotten ahead of the other one.
This first twin came to an old man sitting by the road just outside a nearby town. The twin stopped and asked the old man what the people were like in this town.
The old man replied by asking the same question of him, “What were the people like in the town you
came from?”
The first twin said they were very unkind and harsh, not very friendly at all. The old man said, “I think you’ll find that the people who live here are very much the same.”
Not long after the first twin left, the second twin came across the same old man sitting by the same road. This twin stopped and asked the same question of the old man. The old man again replied by asking what the people were like in the town the twin had come from.
The second twin said the people were all great. “I had a lot of friends and the people always tried to help others.”
"You will find that the people here are exactly the same!" said the old man again, for he was a wise old man who knew that the attitude of the people you meet depends upon your own state of mind. If you are cheerful and frank and good-humored, you'll find others the same.
"You will find that the people here are exactly the same!" said the old man again, for he was a wise old man who knew that the attitude of the people you meet depends upon your own state of mind. If you are cheerful and frank and good-humored, you'll find others the same.
