Be Yourself. It's Your Best Route.

How do I say this... ah yes,
BE YOUR F*CKING SELF.

Got your attention? Good.
Your vision is yours and realizing it is up to you.

Why would other people be better at finding a place that only you can go? Or creating a thing that only you have seen?

Your vision is your own. And to realize it you must trust yourself and you must commit to your process.

Worry less about how you'll get there and spend more energy about moving towards your vision daily, as you execute your plan while being authentic to who you are. That's your advantage.

Love yourself but push yourself. Be patient with yourself while calling yourself to live your highest standard. Believe in yourself and trust your process. Find your way by walking your path... Lovingly do you.

Thank you for reading,
Until next time - stay blessed.
M.

Instagram: @marksparksinc
www.MarkSparks.com

"0% Lucky. 100% Blessed."

Luck is fickle. Luck comes and goes. We have little control over luck and even less control of when it will strike or how long it will last. Luck is fleeting.

Pray more. Smile more.

Do more. Be more.

Being blessed is different. Knowing that we are blessed is different. To be alive, to have the opportunities we have and the abilities we have to build the vision that we dream and achieve the goals we set out to achieve is a blessing.

The difference between the two is that every experience is a blessing - either in the form of a victory, a step forward or a lesson taught in pain or defeat. Being blessed gives us more control over how we respond to the world, our experiences in it and the result from each interaction.

Being blessed also requires a level of gratitude because it eludes to the fact that we are chosen, that we are special and that we have been given a gift outside of our own power to work on and hone.

Luck is the maiden we lay in wait for, hoping that she'll come around one day to give us what we desire.

Being blessed & understanding we are blessed, takes work every day - another element we can control.

So while some will blame luck, good or bad,  for their victories and defeats I know that I am not lucky at all, I'm blessed.

Thank you for reading,
Until next time - stay blessed.
M.

Instagram: @marksparksinc
www.MarkSparks.com

"I'll Never Call You My Bitch Or Even my boo cause there's So Much In A Name And So Much More In You."

"I never knew a lo- lo- lo a love like this/got to be something for me to write this/Queen I ain't seen you in a minute/wrote this letter and finally decided to send it..."

The opening verse to an incredible song "The Light" off the album "Like Water For Chocolate" by Chicago artist Common.

More than the opening stanza the words of the song resonate deeply with me and did so the day I began to see myself as a King in training and a man awaiting the arrival of my Queen.

"it's important, we communicate

And tune the fate of this union to the right pitch"

The power of communication is often underplayed yet rarely do we find any relationship that works that doesn't site good communication as a foundation of trust, love and the very relationship itself.

Communication, good communication, takes work but, like the song says:

"love ain't simple/Why can't it be/anything worth having/you work at annually."

Love takes work - self work and work on the relationship every single day. 

It's a reality that few fairytales and Hollywood stories highlight so we often for get that the beginning of a loving relationship isn't the end of working on that loving relationship and working on ourselves.

"I never call you my bitch or even my boo/there's so much in a name and so much more in you."

Part of communication is realizing that words hold great value and that what we say can help or hurt our partner, ourselves and our relationship.

To call a Queen anything less is to diminish her worth and by nature our own. And when we begin to devalue our treasure, we start down a dangerous road and start towards the end of that relationship.

As a King, it is my goal to provide a loving and peace filled environment safe for the growth of my Queen, our relationship and myself. In doing that I must diligently be aware of my words, my thoughts and my actions to ensure they are congruent with what I aim to do and in line with what my Queen needs. And one thing she never needs, is to be seen as less than the treasure she is.
Thanks for reading.
See you next time.
M.

www.MarkSparks.com
Instagram: @marksparksinc

"We Get What We Give."

Whether in the gym, in our work or in our relationships - we get what we give, more specifically we get what we consistently give, and not what we offer occasionally and definitely not from giving nothing.

Something For Nothing? What?

The idea of something for nothing, though a popular one, is not one that leads to us to giving our best and in turn being our best.

How can we expect the best from ourselves or in our relationships or from our work or from our workouts when our investment into them is mediocre at best?

To achieve our greatest vision for our lives takes the greatest effort from us in our lives. And our greatest effort must be consistent in all we do because how we do anything is how we do everything. And in order to make it a habit to give more than we hope to receive we must habitually practice giving more than we expect to receive.

But what happens when I give much to someone and receive little in return?

That's a valid thought and something that could definitely happen in our trlationships in particular, but so is the other side of that thought,

"What happens when I give much to someone and they give even more in return?" 

This is where the magic in relationships happen. The place where both people aim to so fully meet the needs of the other that no one is left wanting or, perhaps worse, feeling used.

The realization of our vision has a great cost and we must pay - in attention and the understanding that we reap what we sow.

Thanks for reading.
See you next time.
M.

www.MarkSparks.com
Instagram: @marksparksinc

"Prove All The Haters Wrong."?

"I'm doing it to prove all the haters wrong." Why?


Why would you pour blood, sweat and tears into the very people who withhold love from you?
Why would you be motivated to continue to work day in and day out for the people who don't support you or have faith in you or believe in you?

So that we can rub our success in their face?
So that we can "show" them? Even if they don't really care?

Sure, proving them wrong might be a great way to start our journy but it isn't a very encouraging way to stay on our journey. I mean it turns the sweetness of our trek into something quite bitter.

Okay, sure, we all want to "show them" - those who didn't believe - a little bit, no doubt but love is so much more powerful a fuel.

Do it for the people that believe in you. Those who have faith in you. The ones who come out support you with their money, their time and their hearts.

Do it, whatever your "it" is to prove them, to prove you, right.

Thanks for reading.
See you next time.
M.

www.MarkSparks.com
Instagram: @marksparksinc

If we see no issue, there can be no change.

In my relationships, it weirds me out when people choose to not acknowledge our truth.

When something isn't right the priority, to me, is to make it right. This becomes even more important when dealing with people I really care about.

I've been on both sides of not seeing the issue - I've been the issue and the one who sees the need for change. I've also been both at the same time.

On one side I needed a huge dose of humility and self knowledge. On the other side, I needed to practice loving patience and understanding.

On both sides I needed to make the decision that doing right was more important than being right, that my feelings were no more important than the other persons and that what I desired wasn't better or worse than what they desired.

I also learned that if our desires, needs and wans are fundamentally different that the "issue" may never change and that change would then have to happen - as most often is the case - within me.

I also have learned that change - in the form of growth - is for me to continue to seek, no matter the issue I perceive.

Thanks for reading.
See you next time.
M.



www.MarkSparks.com

Instagram: @marksparksinc

Two Drops Of Oil. (The Secret of Happiness). A Story by Paulo Coelho.

A merchant sent his son to learn the Secret of Happiness from the wisest of men. The young man wandered through the desert for forty days until he reached a beautiful castle at the top of a mountain.

There lived the sage that the young man was looking for. However, instead of finding a holy man, our hero entered a room and saw a great deal of activity; merchants coming and going, people chatting in the corners, a small orchestra playing sweet melodies, and there was a table laden with the most delectable dishes of that part of the world.

The wise man talked to everybody, and the young man had to wait for two hours until it was time for his audience. With considerable patience, he listened attentively to the reason for the boy's visit, but told him that at that moment he did not have the time to explain to him the Secret of Happiness. He suggested that the young man take a stroll around his palace and come back in two hours' time.

"However, I want to ask you a favor," he added, handing the boy a teaspoon, in which he poured two drops of oil. "While you walk, carry this spoon and don't let the oil spill." The young man began to climb up and down the palace staircases, always keeping his eyes fixed on the spoon. At the end of two hours he returned to the presence of the wise man.

"So," asked the sage, "did you see the Persian tapestries hanging in my dining room? Did you see the garden that the Master of Gardeners took ten years to create? Did you notice the beautiful parchments in my library?"

Embarrassed, the young man confessed that he had seen nothing. His only concern was not to spill the drops of oil that the wise man had entrusted to him.

"So, go back and see the wonders of my world," said the wise man. "You can't trust a man if you don't know his house."

Now more at ease, the young man took the spoon and strolled again through the palace, this time paying attention to all the works of art that hung from the ceiling and walls.

He saw the gardens, the mountains all around the palace, the delicacy of the flowers, the taste with which each work of art was placed in its niche.

Returning to the sage, he reported in detail all that he had seen. "But where are the two drops of oil that I entrusted to you?" asked the sage. Looking down at the spoon, the young man realized that he had spilled the oil.

"Well, that is the only advice I have to give you," said the sage of sages. "The Secret of Happiness lies in looking at all the wonders of the world and never forgetting the two drops of oil in the spoon."

Thanks for reading.
See you next time.
M.


www.MarkSparks.com
Instagram: @marksparksinc

"Hey Train Wreck, This Isn't Your Station."

We're not totally responsible for what we attract in life, but we are responsible for what we decide to entertain.

When people or situations (which are generally brought by people, so people) come into our lives that is when our choice begins - do we entertain what they are bringing or do we let it pass?

Do we hold onto the lessons they are teaching or do we let them pass?

One of the wisest pieces of advice I ever got was that just because a thing comes my way isn't a reason to engage it and that I don't need to engage everything that comes my way.

This decision to choose what I engage with, what I spend energy and other resources on, what I entertain in my life created a sense of peace and power that I was lacking before. Sure, I've got a ways to go and grow in order to really reap the benefits of the wisdom shared with me but being aware of this power alone makes me stronger.

We are not obligated to take on everything that comes our way. And it's okay to tell the train that we aren't their station.
M.

Thanks for reading.
See you next time.
M.



www.MarkSparks.com
Instagram: @marksparksinc