Are you at at your desk, prepping for an upcoming meeting and sifting through a backlog of emails? Or, are you reading this on your laptop at home, feet up on the coffee table, relieved that the kids have finally gone to sleep?

I’m at a rickety wooden table inside a brick coffee shop. Couches and chairs of every shape and colour litter the room and art students from the local university sketch or talk architecture at the tables beside me. The scent of freshly brewed coffee mingles with the smell of musty, carted down from the attic furniture. I love it here.

My favourite part about writing from the road is having you with me. I am here in Atlanta to see Oprah speak. Although I didn’t get to meet her, the day was littered with AHA moments. And the biggest one came from a question I didn’t get to ask.

It was in the middle of Oprah’s afternoon keynote presentation. The camera panned from Oprah to a young girl in the audience (let’s call her Jane). Jane had written in, much like I had, and one of the conference organizers picked Jane (instead of me) to ask Oprah a question.

This bright-eyed 18 year old woman batted her long, so black they didn’t look real, eyelashes and ran a hand through her shiny chestnut hair. With a steady clear voice, Jane thanked Oprah for her time. Jane then told Oprah about her own little talk show (somewhere in the USA – I didn’t catch where). Jane went on to say, “My show is just like yours, but for a younger audience.” Oprah nodded and masked any irritation she might have felt about this presumptuous statement, “So, Jane,” she said, “What’s your question?”

Jane asked, “What advice do you have for someone like me, who is just starting out in this industry? How can I make sure my message reaches more people? I want to impact millions of people, just like you have.”

Oprah looked her straight in the eye and asked, “Do you want the millions or do you want the work?”

Jane did not pause at all, “Of course I want the work. I want to impact people. But the more people I reach, the bigger the impact I will have, and the more lives I can change, so it’s also about the millions.”

Like a patient teacher, Oprah said even more clearly, “If it’s really about the work; it doesn’t matter how many people you impact. If it’s about the millions, it’s about fame, which is a very different reason to do the work.”

Jane pressed on and tried another angle while I sat safely (and anonymously) in the 25th row and had my own question answered. Both my letter to Oprah in June of 2010 and my letter to the organizers of OYou came from a good place. I really thought, wouldn’t it be great if Oprah could help me reach a wider audience so I could inspire thousands (or even millions) of people to start A Fresh Chapter in their lives?

But, in answering Jane’s question, Oprah also set me straight. If it’s about the work (and not the millions), each of us can start exactly where we are. Each of us can choose to live a life filled with grace, kindness, and service, regardless of whether anyone else ever recognizes what we’re doing.

Cancer led me down an unchartered path to finding a passion for writing that I didn’t know I had. Now, I see that if just one of my stories about the lessons I keep learning helps just one of you feel a little more hopeful about your own future; a little more optimistic about seeing life in terms of what IS possible instead of what isn’t; or a little more willing to be vulnerable with the people you love then I have done exactly what I’m meant to be doing.

As Oprah said, “when I get to say something that means something to you and I have made a difference in some small way in your lives, I know I am doing EXACTLY what I’m supposed to be doing. So, start in your own house with your family and your friends and use your passion to serve these people in your life.”

So no, I didn’t meet Oprah. Or Martha Beck. But, I left OYou with a clearer perspective of what’s important to me. It’s not about the millions; it’s about the work. If I can focus on writing, connecting with you, learning from your stories, and growing as a human being, everything else will unfold exactly as it’s supposed to…