star fish

A man is walking along the beach and observes a woman frantically picking up and throwing starfish back into the ocean that had washed up on shore following a storm. The shoreline is literally covered with starfish and the woman could never save every one. The man walks up to her and asks what she's doing and is told that she is throwing them back because if she doesn’t they'll die.

The observer pauses and says "it doesn't matter since you'll never be able to throw them all back." The woman replies as she tosses another starfish into the surf "It matters to that one" and goes back to her work.