I often do a lot of thinking while cooking. Tonight I'm making my husband a roast, and thinking about the speech we need to write for my younger sister's 21st next week. She is genuinely an amazing person, and one of the most generous, decidicated people I have ever known. So I was thinking - what makes someone's life amazing? What makes them unique, worth having around, memorable?

I know a lot of smart people, I know people who are very good at what they do. I know amazing parents, world-travellers, successful businessmen, hard-working students, dedicated wives, sacrificial husbands. I know charismatic people who the world calls "famous", I know shy people who would run a million miles from the spotlight, I know people who write, people who sing, people who bake, people who make the websites so you're able to read this!

The people I know are so diverse, and so talented and successful in so many ways.
What makes them stand out?

I figured this: you can travel the world, you can get the top job, you can earn the most money; you can raise children with the perfect manners, you can take amazing photos, you can paint amazing artworks, you can write a great book; perhaps you have the most followers on Twitter, you have the largest group on Facebook, you can cover a map with the places you've been - but have you left a legacy?

Is the world any different because you're here, than it was before you came?

This is why, when I was younger, I decided that being shy just wouldn't cut it. I wanted the world to know I was here. Not even the "world", because fame doesn't mean much to me (I see it as a platform for change, not a destination) - just the people I have the sphere-of-influence to reach. If I can be a friend, I'll do that. If I can make someone a meal, I'll do that. If I can write a card, I'll do it. If I can make a call, I'll do that too.

What is in my hand to do? No matter where you are, look outward and you'll find the difference you can make.

Experience is amazing, travel is irreplacable, success is well-deserved.

But what will you do with it?
It all meant nothing if you don't use what you had.

I know so many people who revel in their success, experiences and blessings -- but for little more than their own happiness. Selfishness will result in one thing, I guarentee - the world will either not even know you existed, or will be worse off because you did.

Do what you can, no matter how small, and always make it count!

I'm so lucky to know so many people who are living to leave a legacy. Not everyone gets to know so many. Maybe your job is to be that kind of person for the people around you, and maybe, just maybe, it'll catch on. Whether it does or not, at least you did what you were good at, and you shared it well.

Remember - you are the only person in the whole entire world with your exact sphere of influence. No one else can do what you were created and gifted to do.

That is all for tonight :)

Back to making dinner,
April

(Photograph is of my Dad and my br