Somewhere around 15 years back, I first heard “the Starfish story”. For those of you who haven’t heard it, it goes something like this:

“A young woman was walking along a beach upon which thousands of starfish had been washed up. When she came to each starfish, she would bend down, pick it up, and throw it back into the ocean. People watched her with amusement and bewilderment.

 She had been doing this for some time when a man approached her and said, “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!”

Oh, how I loved this story.  Value based idealism. Holding the power to save a life in your hands, despite criticism and the enormity of whatever circumstances you are facing. Perseverance. It had all the hallmarks of what I found to be righteous and right in the world.

Fast forward a decade later, and I heard the story again. Started off just the same, but then went on, like this:

“Well, I made a difference to that one” echoed in the air as the women then hurled the starfish back to freedom in the open sea. Soon night came, but the woman couldn’t stop saving the starfish. If she didn’t, who would?

Night fell and the woman’s family came to look for her, they wanted her to come home and to have dinner. But, she couldn’t leave. She had to save the starfish, one by one….

Soon, it became cold. She was wet. Her arm was tired from throwing the fish. Her calves ached from bending down. She was hungry.

She was tired.

Yet, she couldn’t stop. If only she could muster up a bit more energy, a life would literally be saved by her actions. Exhausted, she reached down yet again, an entire ocean of star fish in need of her help, waiting behind her, if she could just give them a bit more time, a bit more energy, a life would be saved….”

Hmmmmm. Not quite the same feeling I got when I heard that first silver lining feel good version  of the story, which, might I add,  I had clung to faithfully for nearly a decade to prop me up when I myself felt exhausted and overwhelmed.

Indeed this new version of the fable seemed to take the spot light off of the righteous salvation, which I found so appealing, and shine it directly on the complete and total burn out  component that is an all too common reality in animal rescue work.

So, I sat with this new version for a while. I managed to find some humor in it and how such a simple story could speak such profound truths on either side of the coin. I found myself teetering somewhere in limbo between the two versions – at moments completely and utterly inspired by the original story and then absolutely in tune with and able to relate to the second.

Then, I heard a third version – which went something like this {admittedly, with some liberties on my part}:

Just as the woman was at the moment of complete and utter collapse, another passerby came by and they started saving the starfish together. This brought the situation new life and invigorated the original woman, whose fatigue dissipated in the face of camaraderie and shared cause.

Then, a few more folks joined in and soon so many were helping that the original woman was able to sit down. Once she sat and rested a moment, she realized that it would be much more efficient to stop hurling the star fish back  one by one, and to instead build a soft net that they could use to drag across the beach and hurl thousands of star fish back in at once.

They built the net and began saving the starfish in incredible numbers, with much more ease having created a strategy and developed a team. Then, collectively, they realized that maybe they should figure out what was causing the starfish to wash up on the shore in the first place, and to go after the root of the problem….

You get the idea.

At the end of the day, I find value and inspiration in all three versions of this tale.

At my core, I remain true to the original version; a wide-eyed, red-hearted, passionate idealist who believes with every fiber of my being in the value of each and every life we can save. No matter what.

And, yet, admittedly, I have also become more empathetic to the second spin on the tale; a somewhat bleary-eyed, exhausted, more tired version of that same idealist who believes, with every fiber of my being in the value of each and every life we can save…. but also really just could use to sit down sometimes.

And, finally, I am also in complete agreement with the third and final version; a bright eyed realist who understands in the power of prevention, collaboration, and getting to the root of the problem rather than just continuing to strike at its branches.

Fortunately for me, the three versions are not mutually exclusive and one builds atop the other.

In fact, yesterday is a perfect example. Compassion without Borders held a free clinic in Sonoma, to help the animals belonging to under served low-income Latinos in the area. Like the starfish washed up at sea, these animals are often in very precarious situations due to their not having access to affordable veterinary care and spay/neuter and their numbers are completely overwhelming.

Like the second version of the story, these clinics are incredibly rewarding, but also completely exhausting. Our day started at 4:30 a.m. and we saw over 120 animals. My shoulders still ache and I could use a solid 24 hours of rest to get back on track…which, needless to say, I won’t be getting any time soon.

But, like the third spin on the story, we were helped by an amazing group of dedicated volunteers and animal lovers who all came out to join us and to work hard to make a difference. And we were holding the clinic in conjunction with Pets Lifeline, a great local shelter who does amazing work and who is just as eager to help these animals as we are.

We were tired, but we were in good company and we were striking at the roots of the problem through education, spay/neuter, and access to veterinary care and wellness services for these animals.

And, at the end of the day, we circled back to the first version of the tale by saving the life of a single dog – Paloma. A darling little long-haired white Chihuahua, a 6 month old puppy. She was brought in by a Spanish speaking family  who no longer wanted her and didn’t know what to do with her. We took her, put her out into foster, and will find her a home somehow. She kissed my face as we were closing up the clinic yesterday and with just one look into those sweet brown eyes I knew everything we had done was worthwhile.

 And so, however you tell the story,  I remain completely inspired by this simple tale….one more life saved….another starfish out to sea.

To find out more about my work and that of Compassion without Borders, visit www.cwob.org