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For the last year we’ve been bringing you what we call Today’s Brilliance each morning, from a different Inspirational Luminary. The time has come where we’d now like to invite YOU, our community, to submit your brilliance to be posted on InspireMeToday.com.

What is Today’s Brilliance? We believe that each person has untold brilliance within.  Our Today’s Brilliance is just that- the beliefs and core principles that guide our decisions in life.

I believe we have to not only know ourselves but also what we believe in before we can get anywhere in life. Otherwise, it’s like heading out on a trip with no destination, no inventory of equipment, no idea how much gas we have in the tank and no idea of which way to turn.

I was originally inspired by the “Desiderata”, (see below) published by Max Erhmann, made popular in the 70’s. The Desiderata was the product of an urge that Ehrmann wrote about in his diary: “I should like, if I could, to leave a humble gift — a bit of chaste prose that had caught up some noble moods”.

I asked myself, “What words of wIstock_000005493725Xsmall1isdom would I choose to leave as my legacy“? And thus, Today’s Brilliance was born.

If you were asked to write your final words to leave to humanity, sharing the most important things you’ve learned in life, what would you say?

If you were seated across the breakfast table tomorrow from a friend that needed inspiration, what have you learned in your life that you could share to help them live a more fulfilled life? What do you believe in? What do you know to be true? What information can you share with others that empowers something within? These are the questions we’ve asked some of the most successful and inspiring people on the planet.

We’ve asked our Inspirational Luminaries for InspireMeToday.com to share the best they’ve learned in life- in just 500 words. It’s easier to write pages, but we’re trying to provide something meaningful for you, our members, that you can read in just a few minutes each morning and that has the power to rock your world. I hope you agree that we’ve succeeded.

Now, I’d like to personally invite you to also write your own “Desiderata”.  Please include the things that are meaningful to you and record who you are for posterity- in just 500 words.

P10204281Please don’t share your bio or what happened to you in life, but rather use these 500 words to share what you’ve learned, who you are and what you know to be true. This is the essence of you!

No matter what you believe, your thoughts are yours and yours alone. They are sacred gifts to motivate and inspire you always.

I find that if I’m ever in a difficult situation, just rereading what I wrote empowers me when I can’t seem to find that strong part of myself. I believe the best way to be inspired is by the best part of ourselves! No words will ever resonate so close and remind you of who you really are, than your own.

BookWe’re delighted to share Today’s Brilliance from some of our favorite Inspirational Luminaries, as our gift to you. Just join our community to get your free copy. I hope this gift will inspire you to write your own and share it with the world. Who knows what untold brilliance we may discover!

It is our humblest desire to help you reconnect each morning to the magnificence that you truly are. We believe you have the power to be, do or create anything in your life.

We’re here to be your greatest cheerleader and brush the dust off of your wings so that you can fly even higher. Please let me know how we can serve you better.

Feel free to email us at [email protected] with your own personal Today’s Brilliance. Each week we’ll select one to post in this blog. Please include a jpg photo so we can share your beautiful smile with the world too.

Thank you for being such an important part of our InspireMeToday.com community. I can’t wait to read your brilliance! We love and appreciate you!

(Here is a copy of Max Ehrmann’s Desiderada. Although there has been controversy as to whether or not this is public domain, we’re including it here in the spirit of Max’s request that he should like to leave a humble gift. Thank you Max!)

The Desiderata

Go placidly amid the noise and the haste,
and remember what peace there may be in silence.

As far as possible, without surrender,
be on good terms with all persons.
Speak your truth quietly and clearly;
and listen to others,
even to the dull and the ignorant;
they too have their story.
Avoid loud and aggressive persons;
they are vexatious to the spirit.

If you compare yourself with others,
you may become vain or bitter,
for always there will be greater and lesser persons than yourself.
Enjoy your achievements as well as your plans.
Keep interested in your own career, however humble;
it is a real possession in the changing fortunes of time.

Exercise caution in your business affairs,
for the world is full of trickery.
But let this not blind you to what virtue there is;
many persons strive for high ideals,
and everywhere life is full of heroism.
Be yourself. Especially do not feign affection.
Neither be cynical about love,
for in the face of all aridity and disenchantment,
it is as perennial as the grass.

Take kindly the counsel of the years,
gracefully surrendering the things of youth.
Nurture strength of spirit to shield you in sudden misfortune.
But do not distress yourself with dark imaginings.
Many fears are born of fatigue and loneliness.

Beyond a wholesome discipline,
be gentle with yourself.
You are a child of the universe
no less than the trees and the stars;
you have a right to be here.
And whether or not it is clear to you,
no doubt the universe is unfolding as it should.

Therefore be at peace with God,
whatever you conceive Him to be.
And whatever your labors and aspirations,
in the noisy confusion of life,
keep peace in your soul.

With all its sham, drudgery, and broken dreams,
it is still a beautiful world.
Be cheerful. Strive to be happy.

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Gail Lynne Goodwin is the founder of InspireMeToday.com, bringing the best inspiration to the world. InspireMeToday.com provides free inspiration, each day from a new Inspirational Luminary, to a global community of folks from over 150 countries. Gail has interviewed many well-known names including Sir Richard Branson, Guy Laliberte, Seth Godin, Tony Hseih, Gary Vaynerchuk, Michael Gerber, Marci Shimoff, Jack Canfield and hundreds more. According to Mashable, Gail was one of 2009's Top 25 Most Inspirational People on Twitter.

Prior to InspireMeToday.com, Gail spent several years as manager for her recording artist daughter, Carly. As a result of the success of their co-penned song, "Baby Come Back Home", Gail accompanied her daughter to bases in the US and to Guantanamo Bay, Cuba where Carly performed for our troops. Gail and Carly created the 'World's Longest Letter' of love and support and delivered the 18-mile long scroll on a month-long tour of Iraq and the Persian Gulf in 2006.

Gail is excited to present her latest course, Love in 21 Days, a step-by-step guide to finding love online. Love in 21 Days is founded on a logical process that has been tested - and proven! - by not only Gail, but also by students around the world who too have found love.

Gail is a published author and a regular writer for the Huffington Post. She offers mentoring and mastermind services to clients worldwide from her home in Whitefish, Montana. Follow Gail on Twitter or Google+.

This Post Has 7 Comments

  1. Hi Gail,

    Here we go, written at 4.30am on 17 March, 2005. It was a cold, dark and wet morning. Cycling is my passion, it takes me to place that is deeply spiritual. Hope you like my Desiderata……..

    There is a spirit to riding a bicycle over great distance, the intrepid, independent soul-seeking instrument.

    On a bicycle you are alone in that there is only what is in you that can keep you driving forward, you ride together as a team or amongst other riders but ultimately the fight is inside YOU and you only.

    You struggle like hell and say no I won’t give up; you dig deep and find that raw element of self that you have inside and the best of you comes out for all around to see.

    Humility, respect, compassion, commitment and above all bravery; you reveal your mettle.

    The romance is pure and simple, you are the engine and you power the wheels and take on a journey, the mountains, the plains, the rain, the heat, cold and ultimately the pain.

    You arrive with tales of wonder and awe, speak of mind over matter, friendship and love and you are greeted with glee and astonishment.

    Tear off the layers that hide your true self in conforming to living in the modern world and ride, keep riding and I’ll see you back out there.

    You will never be the same again.

    By Steve Jennings, Founder of the zyOzy foundation, a new kind of ‘humanity benefit orgainzation’, dedicated to activating youth and business in the global fight against extreme poverty and hunger.

  2. Dear Steve,

    Thank you for sharing your Desiderada. I am honored to share it with our members. I can feel the passion of your love of cycling come through your words.

    Steve you are doing great work at http://zyozy.org. Let us know how we can help you in any way! When we do the Global Hug Tour #2 (Southern Hemisphere), I’m sure we’ll find great ways to play together to make a difference.

    We welcome anyone to post their brilliance here or send it to us at [email protected]. Each week we’ll select one and feature it as our Today’s Brilliance blog of the week, featured each Friday. Who knows… maybe you’ll see yours posted again at the end of the week!

    Thanks again for sharing your brilliance with us.

    Hugs,

    Gail

  3. It is not to early to ponder migration from the seacoasts, to the higher ground, our seacoasts of the future. For if we ignore the man made hell we have brought upon ourselves, we will double the folly.

  4. What an excellent website. In an office of self-employed entrepreneurs a little inspiration is always needed. I spread your link around the office. I bookmarked it myself. You can rest assured that I’ll be back on a regular basis. Thanks you again for a GREAT resource.

  5. I love this site. Here is my Desiderata, written last year:

    I believe in our world there exists more good than bad

    And that even in the bad lies a modicum of good

    I believe that for each of us lives more than one right mate

    That love beats stronger than hate’s thrumming violence

    That forgiveness brings healing to the not only the soul

    of she who receives it

    but also to he who gives it

    I believe that faith is stronger than disbelief

    I believe that angels hold more strength

    than a demon holds evil

    I believe that when humanity all bleeds red

    inequality and prejudice should be laid to rest

    I believe the only person with whom we should compete

    and do our best to better is she who stares back from the mirror.

    Karen Chaffee 2008
    All Rights Reserved

  6. I am reading this book called The Success Principles by Jack Canfield and one part of the book that caught my attention is this. When visualizing or writing down your goals you always end with “or something better.”

    Example: Let’s say your dream car is a porche. Well the way you would request this to the Universe is “I enjoy driving my red porche or something better.”

    The way I see how this applies to my life is that for quite some time now (about 2 years) I’ve been wanting to work in the Music Business. Well I starting doing my research, went to college (which this is my last semester) for a Music Business degree, and met great people in the industry. But it turns out that after all the preparation, I got interested in learning something new in my current career (Paralegal). I decided that I wanted to learn litigation!

    I spoke to my boss about it and it turns out that he was very happy with my request and our firm is expanding (in these days its something unheard of) which means that my new skills of litigation will be used to the max. The more practice the better I get.

    Morale of my post is that I wished for a career in the Music Business or something better and I got that-Something better.

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