The story of the Starfish

Good morning!! *air kiss on both cheeks* How are you!? You're looking fabulous this morning. I love what you're wearing! Have you lost weight? Anyway, come in! come in! Do find yourself a comfy chair, (No no! Not the comfy chair!) a giant cosy bean bag or a large soft cushion. (No!! Not the soft cushion! With all the stuffing jammed into one corner!) Just flop yourself down, I'll bring you all your Teas, fresh coffees, Ovaltines, or hot chocolates shortly. Does anyone want a sticky bun? No!? Too early perhaps? I do have some giant double chocolate cookies if you prefer, or perhaps a hot buttered croissant? Still do just make yourself at home and sit where you like.

Well good morning everyone. I'm so glad you could all join me here this morning, for today's little Friday Eve gathering. I wanted to share with you today the story of the starfish.

Not so long ago a man was taking a morning walk along the beach in Cornwall. He did this every morning, and had noticed that along with the morning tide each day, came hundreds of starfish. Then when the tide receded, the poor stricken starfish would be left behind and during the morning the sun would shine, and with no protection or enough speed to make it back to the water, they would die.

At this moment though, the tide was still fresh and the starfish were alive. So the man took a few steps, bent down and carefully picked one up and threw it back into the water. He did this repeatedly. Over and over again he would pick up one of the starfish and throw it back into the safety of the sea.

Just then, an early morning jogger happened along the sand and noticed what the man was doing. He couldn't understand why this man was randomly throwing starfish back into the sea. He caught up to him and asked, "Excuse me mate, but I have to ask. What are you doing? There's hundreds of starfish along this beach. How many do you think you can you help? I mean what difference does it really make?"

The man did not reply, instead he took two more steps, gently picked up another starfish, and threw it back into the water, and then said, "Well, it makes a difference to this one."

So when you ask yourselves, in the grand scheme of things, what difference do I really make? Know this! Big or small, it doesn't really matter. If everyone makes a tiny difference, we'd end up with a whole big difference, wouldn't we?

Do look after yourselves, and each other.