For all who are discouraged and disillusioned by how slowly things change for the better...
A man was taking a sunrise walk on the beach. In the distance he caught sight of a child who seemed to be dancing along the waves. As he got closer, he saw the child was picking up starfish from the sand and tossing them gently back into the ocean.
"What are you doing?" the man asked.
"The sun is coming up and the tide is going out; if I don't throw them in, they'll die."
"But there are miles and miles of beach with starfish all along it; you can't possibly make a difference."
The child bent down, picked up another starfish and threw it lovingly back into the ocean, past the breaking waves. "I made a difference for that one ," she replied.