The other day I was scrolling through my Facebook and saw a shared post with a story I am very familiar with. The story goes something like this:

"An old man was walking along the beach one morning and happened to see a young girl running up ahead of him doing something quite strange. He could have sworn she was scooping up something and throwing it into the water. As he approached he realized that she was picking up individual starfish that had washed ashore and throwing them back into the water. He figured she was doing this because the starfish would all surely die in the heat of the rising sun.

He asked her "How can you expect to save all of these little creatures, when the beach goes on for miles and miles, how can your effort make a difference?" The girl looked at him, then looked at the starfish in her hand, and replied, " It makes a difference to this one," and threw it back into the sea."

Sounds like a great inspirational story right? The reason it caught my eye is because not only have I seen it on Facebook before, but I've heard it in person what seems like about 1,000 times at leadership events, from speakers and school seminars and even a few times in church. My mom tells me she hears it so frequently in politics that she can recite it word for word. So this starfish saving tale that is meant to make you inspired to do good for others, usually just makes me chuckle.

I saw this story and realized there is another lesson to be learned in this starfish story, instead of feeling inspired for around 5 seconds, it inspires me to be more than just a corny story. It reminds me that some leaders may not even have a real story to talk about the good they have done, and instead have to use hypothetical starfish to inspire young people to be leaders. It reminds me that I have an opportunity to be more than just a cliché, and that not everyone is as blessed as I am to have so many opportunities to hear this funny little story. Most importantly it reminds me that peop

No offense to those who find this story inspiring, or even those who regularly tell it. It is a sweet story with a good message, but I've never really seen a starfish wash up on a beach or even had the opportunity to toss one back, but i would if I could. So the next time you hear this story, or even just see a starfish, think of it as a reminder. What do you want people to see in you and your actions? Are you really making a difference in someones life? The starfish can become a reminder for you to be accountable and real with people, instead of focusing on what you wish you could do, focus on what you can do for others. Refuse to simply throw starfish, but instead find ways you can really change the problems you see in your world so you don't have to retell this sappy tale, and instead can talk about a real instance where you helped even just one person.