I used to think life was all about adventure. About cramming as much in as humanly possible and trying to make sense of our experience on this beautiful yet flawed planet we call home.

To an extent, I still very much believe this. I’m a Saggitarius after all and if you know anything about star signs or are perhaps a fellow Saggitarius yourself, you will understand that this is very much part of our nature! Or at least it certainly is for me.

But over recent years, probably since becoming a mum, I’ve also come to realise something else. Something that sounds far less glamorous or exciting and dare I say it, unappealing.

It’s dawned on me that life, a good life, is as much about being of service to others as it is about living for ourselves. Adventures are wonderful and necessary of course, but equally so is our giving.

As I type, the UK is currently mourning the passing of our longest reigning monarch in history, Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II. Much has already been said, and will continue to be said, about our Queen as the days pass, but the one word that keeps coming up about her legacy and in her memory, is that simple, plain and rather ordinary word – service. Everyone is talking about her remarkable service of 70 years as our monarch and rightly so.

Our departed Queen and her reign will go down in the history books. Her service will be honoured and remembered forever and her story is one that will continue to be told and taught, to generation after generation. Queen Elizabeth II will never be forgotten.

But what about us? Us whom are not royal or rich, famous or infamous. How will our actions and deeds be remembered?

On the face of it, our service can seem small, insignificant and perhaps even pitiful when we look at it in comparison to that of famous world figures, past or present.  It’s easy to unintentionally belittle our own impact on the world and think that what we do or how we treat others is of little importance.

But I urge you to think otherwise and to perhaps consider the impact you are always making (whether you’re aware of it or not) on all those around you or on those who come into your orbit.

Whether it’s through your work, in your personal relationships or just through your daily actions.

When my youngest child was born, we were readmitted to hospital just a few hours later because he developed jaundice quite severely and incredibly quickly. It is I believe a relatively common occurrence but still I was devastated to be told that he would need treatment and that a short stay in hospital was necessary. It wasn’t the new baby story I had imagined or envisaged and with my new mum hormones all over the place, my mental state wasn’t at it’s best.

The staff at my local hospital were wonderful. Everyone treated us well and couldn’t do enough for us but there is one person whom I will never forget. Whose small acts of service meant the world to me at the time and made a worrying experience so much easier for me to handle.

She was the hospital volunteer I met on the children’s ward. A friendly, warm lady who would often pop in to see how we were doing, me and my teeny tiny, newborn son.

The woman who kindly went out of her way to go on a hunt around the hospital to find me something half decent to eat after I’d missed the hospital food round. Who popped in on me frequently to bring me hot cups of tea and occasionally even a biscuit too to “keep my energy levels up”, as I nursed, cuddled and willed my boy to better health.

She was the woman who would knock and then stick her head around the door, every time she passed our room to give me a reassuring smile or say a few words of encouragement. The angel volunteer who made pleasant chit chat with me and gave me much needed company when I was struggling to keep both my emotions and worries in check.

Her service, for those few difficult days, left it’s mark and my goodness, did it matter to me.

I passed her once on the street, a few years later, as I was rushing to a meeting. I tried to catch her gaze, so that I could grab her attention subtly and stop and thank her for everything she did that helped me so much, years earlier. But sadly she was rushing too and I didn’t go after her. But oh how I now wish I had.

I wish I’d been brave enough in the moment to stop her and say, “You won’t remember me but this is the impact you had on my life.” I wish I’d been brave enough to say to her once again, thank you.

I will always regret not doing so and making her aware of just how much her kindness had mattered to me and our family in that short space of time.

Those simple interactions which would have been routine to her and more than likely, long since forgotten, will forever be embedded in my memory and her service forever appreciated.

So you see, our service and all our acts of giving, they matter. More than we can possibly ever really know or measure.

Whether you are serving a loved one, a stranger or a business client. Whether you are helping a friend who is struggling or you are a teacher educating the next generation. Whether you are dragging yourself out of bed to look after your children when all you wish is for the world to swallow you up or you are doing your best to be a constant positive influence when life keeps knocking you down.

All of this. All of your service for others. The showing up. The giving. The kindness. The empathy. The positivity. The ideas. The support. Your words. Your presence. Your work. Your talent. Your personality. Your humour. It all matters.

Being of service is why we are here. It gives life purpose and meaning, making the unsavoury aspects of life that little bit sweeter and helping to make the ordinary, simply extraordinary.

The Queen will always be remembered rightly for her service but thankfully, the opportunity to make a difference to the lives of others, isn’t just restricted to those who will go down in history. It is available to us all.