Happy Monday! I hope you all had a great weekend. Mine was wonderful, thanks for asking! I'm smack dab in the middle of the Philadelphia Film Festival and Cinefest, which started last Thursday and runs until Monday, April 6th. By the time it closes, I will have seen 12 films. I've seen 5 so far, and they've all been really wonderful in their own unique ways.
A while ago, one of my internet friends sent me a link to this neat website.
Ordinary People Change the World
Today's Assignment: Be Ordinary
Don't ever think that just one person can't make a difference. That's all it takes. One person. Not a celebrity or a politician. One ordinary person. On the Ordinary People Change the World website, there is a story posted that illustrates this.A young girl was walking along a beach upon which thousands of starfish had been washed up during a terrible storm. When she came to each starfish, she would pick it up, and throw it back into the ocean. People watched her with amusement.
She had been doing this for some time when a man approached her and said, “Little girl, why are you doing this? Look at this beach! You can’t save all these starfish. You can’t begin to make a difference!”
The girl seemed crushed, suddenly deflated. But after a few moments, she bent down, picked up another starfish, and hurled it as far as she could into the ocean. Then she looked up at the man and replied,
“Well, I made a difference to that one!”
The old man looked at the girl inquisitively and thought about what she had done and said. Inspired, he joined the little girl in throwing starfish back into the sea. Soon others joined, and all the starfish were saved. - adapted from the Star Thrower by Loren C. Eiseley
If you visit Ordinary People Change the World, you can find ways to make a difference, like donating one dollar to City Year, a youth service corps for young adults. Sure, your dollar might not seem so grand, but it will be adding to their goal of $1 million, which can make a huge difference.
So go ahead, have a look around the Ordinary People Change the World website and see what you can do to be ordinary. :)
5 comments:
Hooray for saving starfish!
I'm off to go check out the Ordinary People site.
And Melissa, I can't tell you enough how great this site is. It is such an inspiration to me. Thanks for taking time to put all these links and stories and assignments up. I can see that you put a lot of thought and time and heart into this blog. So thanks!
Dionne, thank you so much! That means more than you know! Sometimes it's a struggle, making time for this blog despite how much I love it. But reading your comment really makes it all completely worth it. I truly appreciate your kind words!
I second what Dionne said!
That was a beautiful story :)
Very cool story. Love it!
There's also another site modestneeds.org. They bring together people who need help with paying bills (eg medical/rent/phone etc) with those who want to and can help. You can see how all the individual donations collectively are adding up to cover an expense for someone who can't pay it themselves. You can also choose who you'd like to donate to. It's a great idea.
Post a Comment