“Put yourself to work and you will find tremendous power coming to you that you will find it hard to bear. Even the least work done for others awakens the power within; even thinking the least good of others gradually instils into the heart the strength of a lion.” — Swami Vivekananda
The morning after a storm, an old man was walking on a beach. It was littered with starfish as far as the eye could see in both directions. In a distance, he saw a boy approaching. Ever so often, the boy bent down, picked something up, and threw it into the ocean.
When the boy came close, the man asked him, “What are you doing?” “Throwing starfish into the ocean,” the young young boy replied. “They can’t return to the sea by themselves. When the sun gets high, they will die, unless I throw them back into the water.”
“But there are tens of thousands of starfish on this beach,” the old man said. “You won’t really be able to make much of a difference.” The boy bent down, picked up a starfish, flung it into the ocean, and said, “It made a difference to that one.”
It’s in our nature to think less of ourselves. “What difference can my tiny actions make?” The truth is, you may be small, but you are not insignificant. Your actions may not make a difference to the world, but to one person, they could make a world of difference. Buy someone lunch, help them out with a project, bring medicine if they’re unwell. If nothing else, just smile.
Such work benefits the world a tiny bit. But in your heart, it instils “the strength of a lion.” Think of yourself less, but don’t think less of yourself.