Discover Your Own Brilliance

It is not what gifts we have — it’s what we do with those gifts that matters.

Recently, I picked up a favorite book — The Right to Write by Julia Cameron. In it she has a chapter on “Valuing Our Experience.” As she says, “We do not see our size. We do not view ourselves with accuracy. We are far larger, far more marvelous, far more deeply and consistently creative than we recognize or know.”

I couldn’t agree with her more. Perhaps we’ve been conditioned to believe we are less than; I know we have all been conditioned to compare ourselves with others. Our societal structures perpetuate that very concept. We compare ourselves to our family members, our classmates, our co-workers, our friends, our lovers. We unconsciously look to others to see who we are against the backdrop of their lives and discount ourselves, that is, count ourselves as less, in the process. And we constantly strive to be better than … anyone else. No wonder we can’t see ourselves; the lens through which we view things is seriously smudged.

So, how do we ever see ourselves accurately? How do we ever discover our own authentic voice? How do we ever see our own highest potential?

We thought we were so much less, and it turns out we are so much more.

We must be willing, no, we must have the courage to look within and see who’s home! We must take inventory of our gifts, the ones with which we came into this life. Even if we think they are small and inconsequential, those gifts matter and are meant to be shared. It is not what gifts we have — it’s what we do with those gifts that matters. Once we embark on our own inner treasure hunt, we discover our own brilliance. We discover hidden gems everywhere.

We thought we were so much less, and it turns out we are so much more.

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