Horseshoe crabs, starfish, and your relationship. Make a difference.

This morning while I was walking on the beach with Thor we rescued a few wild animals. There were 5-6 horseshoe crabs trying to get back into the surf, a stranded sea horse, and a starfish- all were thrown back into the waves. It reminded me of a story I once heard.

One day a man went down to the beach and was surprised to see starfish washed up everywhere. There were hundreds of the creatures along the tide line, some still moving and wet. As he marveled at them, the man noticed a young boy a little ways down the beach bending over repeatedly and throwing something into the waves. The man approached and realized the boy was picking up starfish and throwing them back into the ocean. 

"What are you doing, young man?" he asked. "Throwing them back," was the direct reply without hesitation in throwing. "But there are hundreds, you can't help them all, it doesn't make a real difference, and you'll just get tired" the man said, believing he was stating an obvious and important truth. The boy stopped for a moment, looked at the starfish in his hand, and then threw it into the waves. He turned to the man and said, "I made a difference for that one."

The boy knew more truth than the man; often it is the one thing we do, the one action we take, the one choice we make that creates a difference.

Have you ever felt there were too many things to do to fix your relationship problems?  Have you felt overwhelmed by the hundreds of starfish washed upon the shore?  Then pick one to work on.  Help one thing get better.  Make one healthy move right now.  Save one starfish- then the next- then the next... and make a difference in each of those things.  That's your courageous work.

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