Theres no shortage of people who do great things, both on small and large scales, whom no one ever has heard of. The world is a huge place and it only makes sense that the highest percentage of heroes have names that the public as a whole (if there actually is such a thing considering the public includes distant places such as New South Wales, Zimbabwe, and Imnaha, Oregon) may never have heard spoken.

Other than President Obama; Russias Vladimir Putin, whose declared and undeclared personal wealth are eons apart; Bill Gates; and Nelson Mandela, there arent a lot of personal names of living persons familiar to the majority of mankind.

Maybe somewhat more universally known would be the names of deceased, beloved world leaders such as Abraham Lincoln, Sir Winston Churchill, Martin Luther, and Mahatma Gandhi.

Would Babe Ruth fit into that category? Nah.

Although not universally known, there are tons of people living today known widely because of special attributes they have and share freely that might not appeal, or even be known by all. For instance, you might focus selective attention on country singer Garth Brooks; hip hop icons Jay-Z or Snoop Dog; Russian-born classical pianist Arcadi Volodos; the fastest intermediate hurdler in the world, Trinidanian-born Kerron Clement; or even closer to home, Dusty McDaniel who scored 27 points and grabbed 15 rebounds in his final basketball game for Wallowa High School.

They say fame is fleeting, but maybe that depends on the hearts of those involved.

My guess is that the name Shakira is unknown to many readers of the Wallowa County Chieftain. However, what this beautiful woman has achieved both for children in her own country of Colombia, in South America, and has begun accomplishing for children around the world is phenomenal.

Many people might be impressed that this 34-year-old woman, who grew up barefoot and dirt poor, now has a net worth of $240 million. They might even be more impressed that she accumulated such wealth as a singer and dancer.

And this is where ones familiarity with Shakira Isabel Mebarak Ripoll might jingle ones memory. For those who pour over YouTube videos, the sight of this womans hip-shaking belly dancing moves are legendary, a fact verified by the fact Shakira is the third most viewed YouTube artist of all time.

And her innate talent is only overshadowed by the size of her heart. Shakira wrote her first song at age 8, produced her musical debut album at 13, and five years later launched her Pies Descalzos (Barefoot) Foundation that today provides daily food and education assistance for an estimated 30,000 children in Colombia.

And she didnt stop there!

Today, this belly-shaking icon to many people in the world already has met with President Barack Obama and helped design a Global Childhood Education Initiative designed to partner with UNICEF to make education accessible to every child on the planet. And shes doing this, in part, by acting as a Goodwill Ambassador for UNICEF and traveling all over the world singing and dancing as she goes.

The point I wish to end with is, though all of us may not be blessed with the skills that will percolate us to the surface of public view, every one of us, with no exceptions, has gifts, talents, and skills that can benefit those around us.

Whether our contributions are small or great ultimately might prove immaterial. Whats important is that each of us does the best he or she can with the tools weve been given.