5th May 2026

Today, I want to talk about how you find that some people you know are larger than life sometimes. They’re the type of people who can immediately make everybody around them feel completely at ease, through genuine kindness, humour and often self-deprecation.
Have you ever noticed those people who seem to be able to walk into a room of strangers and immediately become everybody’s friend? They’re actually quite rare and, unfortunately, you sometimes don’t fully realise this, or say this out loud, until you don’t have them around anymore.
You know the sort of person I’m talking about – that person who is one of the kindest and funniest people that you will ever meet in life, who would do anything for anybody at any time, and who somehow brings constant joy into your and others’ lives when they’re around.
Watch carefully when they enter a room; you see otherwise closed people open up, and everybody feels better. But, if you look more deeply, you also see that these characters have an unspoken and unshakable belief in what truly matters, and they are very principled and stand up for what is right.
Here are some examples:
– There are some people who automatically and consistently oppose oppression or discrimination of any kind and will always speak up when silence seems safer. Doing this openly also teaches others to claim their voice and speak their truth, without apology.
– There are some people who also refuse to be stereotyped, or to live in cages that society puts around them. Their philosophy then fundamentally changes how people perceive them and others like them, and this helps others understand their perspective and respect them more.
– And there are some people who constantly reinvent themselves, rather than just repeating previous versions of themselves. This then allows future generations to push further and embrace their ideas.
However, there’s often a hidden cost for people like this that we don’t see. Whilst they’re always busy smiling and doing so much for others, they also sacrifice their own time, and when they do get time to eventually relax, ironically, they’re sometimes taken earlier than expected – it just doesn’t make sense.
So today, please remember to treasure the time you get to spend with anyone like this who you know and who is larger than life, and also remember, people who are truly large in their life also understand something essential: authenticity wins every time!
Written in memory of my good friend, Mark Nevies, who was recently taken away suddenly and tragically from both his family and friends. Mark was a very special man who helped so many people and who genuinely left the world a better place than when he arrived.




