The Starfish Story
A man was walking down a deserted beach at sunset. As he walked along, he began to see another man in the distance. As he grew closer, he noticed that the man kept leaning down, picking something up, and throwing it out into the water. Time and again he kept hurling things out into the ocean. As our friend approached even closer, he noticed that the man was picking up starfish that had been washed up on the beach and, one at a time, he was throwing them back into the water. Our friend was puzzled. He approached the man and said "Good evening, Friend. I was wondering what you are doing."
"I'm throwing these starfish back into the ocean. You see, it's low tide right now and all of these starfish have been washed up onto the shore. If I don't throw them back into the sea, they'll die up here from lack of oxygen."
"I understand," our friend replied, "but there must be thousands of starfish on this beach. You can't possibly get to all of them. There are simply too many. And don't you realize it is probably happening on hundreds of other beaches all up and down the coast. Can't you see that you can't possibly make a difference?"
The local native smiled, bent down, and picked up yet another starfish, and as he threw it back into the sea, he replied, "Made a difference to that one!"

 

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The Puppy – Author Unknown

A store owner was tacking a sign above his door that read "Puppies for Sale." The signs have a way of attracting children. Soon a little boy appeared at the sign and asked, "How much are you going to sell those puppies for?"  The store owner replied, "Anywhere from £30 to £50." The little boy reached into his pocket and pulled out some change. "I have £2.37. Can I look at them?"  The store owner smiled and whistled. Out of the kennel came his dog named Lady, running down the aisle of his store followed by five little puppies. One puppy was lagging considerably behind. Immediately the little boy singled out the lagging, limping puppy. He asked, "What's wrong with that little dog?" 
The man explained that when the puppy was born, the vet said that this puppy had a bad hip socket and would limp for the rest of his life. The little boy got really excited and said, "That's the puppy I want to buy!"  The man replied "No, you don't want to buy that little dog. If you really want him, I'll give him to you." The little boy got upset. He looked straight into the man's eyes and said, "I don't want you to give him to me. He is worth every bit as much as the other dogs and I'll pay the full price. In fact, I will give you £2.37 now and 50p every month until I have him paid for." The man countered, "You really don't want to buy this puppy, son. He is never going to be able to run, jump and play like other puppies." The little boy reached down and rolled up his trouser leg to reveal a badly twisted left leg supported by a big metal brace. He looked up at the man and said, "Well, I don't run so well myself and the little puppy will need someone who understands." The man was now biting his bottom lip. Tears welled up in his eyes... He smiled and said, "Son, I hope and pray that each and every one of these puppies will have an owner such as you." In life, it doesn't matter who you are, but whether someone appreciated you for what you are, accepts you and loves you unconditionally. A real friend is one who walks in when the rest of the world walks away.

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