By Debra Landwehr Engle, author, Be the Light that You Are

To understand the true creative power of your mind and how you can use it to spread your light in the world, we need to start with one basic teaching: We are all of two minds.

Intuitively, we’ve always known this. We’ve seen it represented as the angel who sits on one shoulder, representing your conscience, and the devil on the other shoulder, representing your mischievous or “evil” side.

But those two sides are not separate from you. They’re as much a part of you as your big toe or your beating heart. Those minds have worn a lot of labels, but for our purposes, we’ll refer to them as the lower mind or ego self, and the higher mind or higher Self.

The easiest way to explain the difference between them is this: The lower mind is based in fear, and the higher mind is based in love and light.

The ego mind feels guilty and alone, seeing everyone as separate bodies and engaging in a cycle of attack and defense. The higher mind knows it’s connected to Source, and that nothing can separate us from the love of God, our Selves, and one another.

The ego mind covers up the truth that you are the light with insecurities, self-doubt and feelings of guilt and shame. It’s the reason we resist the truth that we are the light of the world. It’s the part that believes we’re broken rather than whole.  The higher mind, our true Self, knows that we have a light that never goes out. It is unaffected by global politics, family squabbles, daily drama, and bad hair days.

The ego mind constantly scans the landscape for relationships, approval, and opportunity.

Our higher mind knows we never have to go out and look for love, success, abundance, or joy. We are those things. They flow through us as the light that we are.

It’s essential to understand that we all have both minds. They’re part of our existence as human beings. We all express love, and we all project fear.

Some people become so rooted in fear that they take violent action against others or build empires on what’s considered evil intent. But they’re not innately evil. They simply are using their ego mind to obliterate any memory or acknowledgment of the light within, believing this will make them more powerful. Of course, in the end, the light always wins because it endures, whereas anything based on fear ultimately fades.

The more you acknowledge who you are as the light, governed by and using your higher mind, the less you’ll rely on your fear-based lower mind to control your outer circumstances.

When you understand this, you no longer abdicate responsibility for your thoughts to a devil that made you do it or sinfulness in your DNA. You realize anything that’s hurtful comes from your fearful ego mind, and anything that’s loving comes from your higher mind. You understand that only what comes from love is real. The rest is just rooted in a false belief about yourself.

And every single day, in every single moment, you get to choose which of those minds will do you and the world the most good.

Making that choice isn’t hard. But living according to the decision you make takes practice and vigilance because your ego mind will always insist it’s the right option, and the world will add its voice of fear to yours.

The good news is, even though your ego mind is noisy and tenacious, your higher mind is eternally patient. It’s like a parent watching a toddler run in circles, knowing the child will burn herself out eventually and quiet back down into her true Self.

Because nothing—not even your ego mind—can permanently interfere with the light that you are.

Let’s look at some essential elements of this principle.

You can become aware of the source of your thoughts. Once you do, it’s not hard to distinguish between your ego mind and your higher mind.

You are not a victim of your mind. We can whittle our waist, build our muscles, improve our health. But when it comes to the mind, we often accept our fear-based thoughts without question, never entertaining the idea that fear is just one option.

Your mind is linked to all other minds. Even though we inhabit bodies with our own unique gifts and personalities, we’re not distinct and disparate beings. We’re united because we’re all created by and plugged into the same Source. As the light, we are all connected to God, ourselves, and one another. You can’t divide love or light.

Your higher mind is infinite. The ego mind may appear infinite as well, but it’s actually limited by its own boundaries of fear and human experience. The higher mind is powerful because it draws from the vast resources of spiritual connection, beyond our human limitations.

Gaze inside yourself and see the vastness there. Because our brains are encased within our body, we sometimes put limitations on what they can do. But when you know your higher mind is plugged into an infinite source of creative power far beyond the body, there is virtually no limit.

Move your awareness to your higher mind and feel the infinite love flowing through it. Intentionally extend that love to anyone and everyone for whom you may hold a grudge (and that includes you). Feel any anger or hurt softening and melting in the presence of your love.

Unplug from limiting beliefs in the world. On a piece of paper, list as many myths—messages that limit who you are and what’s possible—as you can.

Spend twenty minutes each morning getting to a place of right-mindedness before you leave the house. Use prayer, meditation, and gratitude to help you remember the light that you are. Those twenty minutes will be an excellent investment in your day, saving you immeasurable time by freeing up your mental energy and allowing you to be guided by Spirit instead of the ego’s resistance.

Look for the gift in everything. Know that there is no problem—no matter how complex or long-standing—that can’t be solved by tuning into your light and asking for circumstances to be rearranged for the good of all.