The Times Are a Changing: Implications for Kinesiology

Abstract

A young man was walking down the beach after a major storm had just come through the area. He was dismayed by the huge number of starfish that the storm had washed up on the beach. He knew the starfish were doomed, but thought that there was nothing he could do because of the immense numbers. As he continued down the beach he saw an old man throw something into the water. As he got closer, he saw the old man walk a little farther down the beach, bend over, pick up a starfish and throw it back into the water. As the younger man approached, the old man stopped again, bent over, picked up another starfish and was about to throw it into the water.

The young man stopped and asked, “Why are you doing that? There are thousands of starfish on the beach. You can't possibly make a difference.” The old man looked at the starfish in his hand and then threw it to safety in the waves. “It makes a difference to this one,” he said.

—Anonymous