Even putting aside personal concerns about money, putting children through school, job insecurity and planning for our retirement, it seems like there’s so much to worry about these days. What can we do about the environment? How can we help those living in poverty? Can we find a resolution to worldwide political conflicts? The list goes on and on. We want to help, but even those of us blessed with financial success and security like Ira Riklis can only do so much.
At those times, it’s easy to get stuck worrying about what we can’t do in the face of problems that can seem insurmountable at times. When Ira Riklis begins to feel that way, he steps back and focused on the things he CAN do, even if they seem small. It’s something he learned long ago from a Rabbi who told him the parable of the starfish. In the tale, a boy is walking a long stretch of beach after a storm. Countless starfish have washed ashore and lay dying on the sands. But as the boy walks along, he’s picking the starfish up—one by one—and throwing them back to the safety of sea. A passerby watches with a bit of bemusement then asks the boy how he can even imagine he’s making a difference. At this point the boy picks up another starfish and tosses it into the ocean before turning to the man with a smile on his face. “I just made a difference to that one,” he replies.