World of difference

This story was told to me by a good friend to make me realize what difference every small deed could do whenever I said "What difference does it make?"
This story has done its rounds as a forward in most of our mail boxes but I would still like to narrate it here. Because to someone, it might make a world of difference.

World of difference

It was a beautiful morning and the sun was just beginning to show at the horizon. The sky looked beautiful with tinges of orange and yellow with white cottony clouds floating aimlessly. The sea gushed towards the shore in a hurry as if trying to get the secret out of its system that it had held too long in its stomach.It was the best weather for a stroll along the beach.

A middle aged man walked along the beach taking in all the marvelous treasures that nature offered his vision this morning. As he walked along the beach, he saw a girl picking something from the shore and throwing it back to the waves. It was as if she was sending back something back to the middle of the sea. Surprised by the girl's behavior, the man strode faster to get a closer look at what she was doing.

The girl continued her work unperturbed by the morning joggers and walkers flocking the beach. As he approached, he saw that the girl was doing what she was doing earlier at almost twice the speed. As he walked closer, he saw what she was doing. She was throwing closed clam shells that were brought to the shore back to the sea. This astonished the man as he saw thousands of such closed clam shells lying around and a hundred being washed to the shore with each wave.

Unable to hold himself, he walked closer to the girl and asked " There are thousands of such shells lying on the beach. What difference does it make?"

The girl continued her work and did not look up. She threw another shell back at the waves that were returning back to the heart of the sea and said "It may make no difference to anyone but it makes a world of difference to that one."