Back to Article index To print this page, click on the Print icon in your browser.   Making a Difference One Person at a Time   I love stories. I collect them. Friends and colleagues send me their favorites. I am often touched by the stories I read. The stories are simple, the messages profound.   The story about the starfish, for instance:   Many years ago, a young man, feeling possessed of a wisdom far beyond his years, walked along a beach, contemplating the great mysteries of life. The waves, particularly violent this day, pounded repeatedly upon the shore, casting from the sea thousands of starfish onto the sand left to die a slow and meaningless death.   As he walked, the young man chanced upon another man, who appeared older, slower and seemingly less troubled about life than himself.   The young man observed the older man slowly picking up one starfish at a time, examining it and then hurling it mightily out beyond the reach of the incoming tides.   The young man, annoyed by such an obvious waste of valuable time, demanded, "What are you doing old man?"   The old man, without so much as a glance at the younger man, responded, quietly, "Saving the starfish from dying."   Angered, the young man shouted above the thunder of the waves, "You old fool. Behold the thousands of starfish upon this beach. What possible difference do you think you can make?"   The old man did not answer at first.   He simply picked up another starfish, examined it for a moment and sent it hurtling it out beyond the farthest wave.   "It made a difference to that one," he quietly replied stooping slowly to free yet one more starfish from its prison of sand.   The first thing that stands out is the attitude of the young man. His arrogance and apparent anger at the world typifies to me the attitude of so many people. We run into people like this too often. In the lines of the grocery store; the teller behind the counter at the bank; the driver in the car ahead of you at the light. So many people seem so angry and unhappy (it's even a place I can remember being at one point in my life.)   Then there's the old man. I read the story and I don't see old. I see a man wise beyond his years. A man who's experienced life at a deeper level, who lives his truth and who's not afraid to act on his beliefs.   What if you translate this story to your own life? Which role do you live? One of the tag lines I use in my work is, "Changing lives one person at a time." It speaks to the core of what I do as a coach. I know it's possible for all of us to live a life exemplified by the old man in the story. All we have to do is live with the intention of making a difference and believing we have the power to create change with every step we take.   I never believed I had that power until one day about two years ago. A woman I'd met years before shared her story with me. When I was a CPA I gave talks to organizations on business topics. On one occasion, I spoke to a group of professional women on starting their own business. She was in that group. She told me I'd changed her life. As a result of my talk she'd had the courage to step out and start her own business. She felt more fulfilled professionally and was living her life more in alignment with her beliefs and values. I had no idea! At that moment I became aware that even when we don't know it, we're impacting other people!   What a difference it makes to live your life in a way to catalyze people to change. What can you do to begin making a difference one person at a time?   1. Start with yourself! Change begins with you. If your life isn't what you want it to be, do something about it. You have the power to create change for yourself as well as impacting others. If you need support or guidance, get it. There is no better time to make a difference for yourself than now!   2. Decide you want to make a difference. If it's not something you really want right now, don't create struggle for yourself by thinking this is something you should do. It's not. Remember, though, you can change a person's life with just a smile. No matter who you are, you have an abundance of smiles!   3. Begin one person at a time. Buildings are built one brick at a time. Books are read one word at a time. The world is changed one person at a time, one moment at a time, one spirit at a time.   I have a vision of what is possible: If each of us makes a conscious choice to touch other people in positive ways and make a difference, if each of us decides to make a difference for only one person each day . . . Can you see the possibility of changing the world one person at a time?     © Copyright April, 1998. Laura Hess, MCC 702.252.3657