In understanding our Brilliance, first of all, we don’t truly recognize what it is we’re supposed to be doing until we make that Brilliance connection. It is that transmitter, or brilliant part of us that has those answers. They don’t come from old habits. They don’t come from all of those things that we learned from our parents, or our teachers, or the school of hard knocks. Knowing who I am or what I am doing here really has to come from within us. We all have this natural core of Brilliance. It’s a natural part of every human being; it’s part of the human package. It’s always there and it always has all of the answers that we need.

Lynne was talking to a group of fifth grade students recently about their natural Brilliance. It came up that to connect with your Brilliance, you have to get quiet and you have to listen inside yourself. But sometimes, when you get in touch with that brilliant part of yourself, it might be directing you to go over and talk to that guy over there. The point is that following the wisdom that comes from that brilliant part of yourself may lead you to someone else. It will always lead you to exactly who it is that you need to converse with to get the information that you’re seeking.

In our culture we are not trained or told that we have this part of ourselves. Sometimes we’re told to connect with our higher power, or with Spirit, or the Universe. All of these are that true part of ourselves that is the “who” we really are. It’s making that connection that is really critical. It may seem strange at first because we are conditioned to look outside of ourselves from the time we are little children. It’s a “see what Mom’s doing” or what Dad’s doing. People are telling us, “don’t do that”, “stay away from that”, and all the shouldn’ts and don’ts and do’s. We get conditioned to listening to others for what’s true in our lives. That is not where it’s at.

What do you think? What’s your best idea? What is it your heart is telling you? That’s the really critical piece about understanding that we have this natural core of Brilliance and it will never steer us wrong.

All of us have looked closely into our lives and wondered if this is it. We circle in our minds once we get a thought going. It creates doubt, worry, and concern. We never really do get the answer unless we realize we have two kinds of thinking.

One of them we call the computer mind where thoughts are stored, all of our experiences, all of our training. It’s sort of like a real computer file. Everything we experience today will go into that file.

The other part of our thinking and our mind is called the transmitter mind. Our transmitter has access to the whole universe. It has access to what we call brilliance. Once we have that connection, we quiet down, we listen, we ask for what we need. At that point we have a bigger viewpoint. It’s almost like an aerial view over congested traffic. When you’re in the traffic you can’t imagine what is going on. Then you might tune in and see that there is a helicopter up there that can see the whole picture. And that’s the kind of connection we need to make sense out of our lives.

What we’re trying to suggest is that everyday we’re working, trying to figure out who we are, what’s important and how we can contribute. Making that brilliance connection helps us get a bigger picture.

There is more than we can see as this is a time of great change. There is a dynamic healing occurring as we come to understand that our thoughts contribute to the outer reality of life on earth. With our uplifted and expanded awareness of how it all works, we are creating this cleansing and healing. Much of the negativity that we perceive at this time is connected to this releasing of old habits of thoughts and patterns of being in the collective consciousness.

What do we need to understand at a new level? In all cases, we need to understand that everyone is doing the best they can with what they have. This understanding includes ourselves. We are all working with worn-out thought systems that need a fresh infusion of universal brilliance. This brilliance is what we breathe everyday, what we see as nature rejuvenates the earth in each season, and what is at the center of each atom that forms us.

How can we create a world of brilliance? We need to be aware that as the dark clouds of old thinking dissipate, we have the opportunity to create a truly brilliant world. We are creating a world that reflects the best in each of us individually and collectively. This new understanding moves us into harmony with ourselves, and then with all of life. 

As the presidential campaigns are progressing, the tenor and tone are heating up. It looks like everyone is out there looking for the dirt on everyone else. All are hoping to gain some fame by broadcasting the inflammatory findings that will turn the tide, or at least make a big splash, on the candidates’ momentum.

What is going on?  What do we need to understand at a new level? How can we create a world that is not distinguished by the most brutal events, but rather the most brilliant?

What IS going on? Our consciousness, the level and focus of our thoughts, beliefs, and feelings, is creating what we see around us. We tend to separate ourselves from these ‘bad’ events and we believe that we could not or never would engage in such occurrences.  Yet when we examine our thoughts in detail, we find that we engage in destructive habits of thinking every day.

We are part of the whole; we are connected to everything around us. We must change ourselves, our consciousness, before we can change the world.

Have you ever watched the news and found your muscles tightening, your stomach clenching, or a tear in your eye?  Was your response generated by the number of soldiers and civilians lost in a war that day? Was it the gruesome reports of genocide in a foreign country? Or was it the steady flow of politicians, CEO’s, public servants or ‘regular folk’ who were once again accused of a wide variety of offenses, breaches of trust, or an even more heinous crime?

Our first response is to turn off the TV or blame someone or something for the horrible news. Perhaps you have thrown up your hands, like us, and said “How could they be so stupid?” or “How could someone do such a thing?” If we take the time to go to the next level of understanding and responsibility, we may find that we, too, are implicated; we, too, are a part of creating the world we see on our TV screens.

For every person slaughtered in a foreign genocide, we can identify a thought we have held – a thought that diminished another in order to raise our own esteemed status a little higher.  For every report of shaken baby syndrome and the subsequent shattered lives, we can locate that short but strong impulse to shake someone, to wake them up, to shut them up, that we have felt inside of us.

At Back to Brilliance we focus attention on living from our brilliance, that part of our mind that is connected to all life and the universe itself. We know that anyone can learn to live from this state of awareness and thereby

create healthy, happy, fulfilling lives for themselves. To do this requires a new understanding of mind and how it operates, and the commitment and diligence to practice moving more and more out of our thought patterns and

outdated beliefs to a brilliant point of view.

Our books, reports, programs and courses focus on how to activate one’s brilliant mindset. It is this mindset that generates the brilliant thoughts and feelings that recreate our lives. Having walked this way ourselves we provide the insights, road signs and strategies for making this shift as simply and easily as possible, knowing that this is the greatest and most profound change we’ve ever made.

Everywhere we look these days we see evidence that mindset is very important. Athletes have known for many years the value of staying in the flow – a mental state. People trying to kick a habit like smoking know that taking your attention off cigarettes is huge – shifting your mindset.

Oprah has featured many writers over the years who have stressed the value of mindset. Her latest project with Eckhart Tolle stresses expanding one’s consciousness, which is moving from old beliefs and patterns of thinking to a broader mindset that encompasses much more. Mindset is mainstream.

Many have looked to the workings of the mind to create a foundation for change. It is generally recognized that we have patterns of thinking and beliefs that have been developed over generations; our minds try to hold on to these beliefs even in the face of new evidence that contradicts old beliefs.

With all the personal development programs and the focus on making your dreams come true, there is a whole body of information that suggests that by learning new habits of thinking, we can change our lives for the better.

The times we are living in, with costs rising, wages falling, the need for both parents to work to make ends meet, little time for relaxation, and so on, are stretching the fabric of our lives. Many wonder, “Is this all there is?” and want so much more.

There is a new and growing movement, exemplified by the movie “The Secret” and others like it, that demonstrates that our thoughts play an important role in creating our lives. Check Google for “mindset” and you’ll find over 15 million entries.

All of us have experienced difficult times in our lives.  It is not that we created every difficulty. But we are not victims in life; we are creators.

Do we create a “come-back” from difficulty or do we create a “time-out” that lasts for years or a “the odds are stacked against me” mantra that lasts until we die.  The more attention we put on a thought, the quicker it becomes a reality. Luckily, we have the power and the ability to choose which thoughts we are going to give our energy to.

Using this knowledge, make an experiment in the next week or two. Do you face a difficult co-worker each day? Perhaps you can shift your normal thoughts (and vibrations) about “difficult” to a more neutral thought such as “challenging” or “exacting” or “meticulous”. 

Do you look in the mirror every day and frown, with a thought about “old”, “tired”, or “out of shape”?  How about shifting those thoughts to a more balanced viewpoint, seeing those grey streaks in your hair as “debonair” and seeing those wrinkles as “wisdom lines”? And perhaps a really big smile at yourself could boost those basement thoughts to roof-top thoughts; you’d be surprised at how your energy will start climbing those stairs to the roof to match the higher thoughts.

It’s time to take your life into your creative hands to move in the direction you have wanted. This is not a simplistic solution; rather, it is a simple way to claim your power and move ahead. Using this approach to creating, we can reawaken our creative and lighthearted selves that are awaiting the chance to come out and play the game we call life at a higher and fuller level.

The first step to understand how to create your ideal life is to understand how thought works. Brain research shows that each half of our brain supports a unique function. The left brain is analytical, sequential, and organizes our lives. The right brain is associated with intuition and creativity.

Author Richard Carlson gives the mind two distinct functions which correlate. The computer mind is that part of our mind which organizes and stores information. It collects all of our experiences, everything we have observed, and generations of family and cultural beliefs. It also stores our behavior habits, like brushing our teeth or driving the car, so we don’t have to think much about it. Our transmitter mind connects us to our natural brilliance and creativity. It provides new answers and insights that move us to a new level of expression.

Our reality follows our thinking. When we’re thinking “ain’t it awful”, it seems awful! When we think “I’ll never get this done”, we probably won’t. Thoughts become things. All we need to do to see this is to take a good look at the life we live and then make a thorough assessment of the kinds of thoughts we think throughout our days. There is always a correlation between the two. 

Ever play with magnets when you were a kid? It was great fun, even though it became a bit monotonous over time. Nothing was more accurate and never-fail than a magnet and some metal.  The magnet

was guaranteed to pull all the metal in your vicinity to you.

Now that we are adults, we get to play at the same game. Often we are playing unaware that we are pulling to us the aspects of life that we focus our thoughts on. It is quite amazing and is equal in accuracy to our childhood pastimes.

Just what does this mean? Take a look at our day’s high points and low points.  Jot down a few of the strongest elements of your day. Then ask yourself: “What thoughts did I pay attention too today? and “How do these thoughts relate to the most memorable incidents of my day?”

We create the flavor of our day through our thinking as surely as a magnet will always attract metal.  Our accumulated thoughts can be put to good use to create our lives.  Check everything around you—what does it look like, sound like, feel like?  The quickest way to discover where your attention has been is to look around you.  You have created this with the magnet of your mind.