Remember, a Knight in shining armor has never been to battle. ©

Love is a war. At least I think it is. So much so I've written about it on more than one occasion (click here to read the poem, thanks), yet I always hear people looking for untested fighters. And by untested I mean warriors not seasoned by battle. Anyone who has been in a relationship realizes that they - like most everything worth having - have to be fought for..

"I'm waiting for my knight in shining armor," is a popular phrase I hear women say, but a knight in shining armor is a warrior without merit where it matters most - in the battlefield.
When a knight was knighted he was sent into battle to nobly defend. He was expected to give everything he had - including his life. And not only in death but give his life in service of something greater than only himself. Even though a knight was seen as a superhero of sorts as he left to battle he would endure great pains in order to win. His shield would get dented and scuffed, his armor worn and tarnished, his very body would betray signs of his humanity in the fresh cuts to go with the scars he wore not to mention the unseen scars on his spirit. Even with all these he went on passionately, dutifully, courageously. He continued to serve. He would continue to fight until death parted him from his oath, from his duty.

In love we as men learn on the fly - even more so than women because, well there are very few forums for us to openly & honestly discuss the "how to's" of relating. Women have groups, talk shows, magazines & each other while we are most often left to learn in the battlefield how to navigate this war we call love. We make mistakes, we get hurt, our armor looses its luster but somehow - and I'd attribute it to the grace of God - some of us make it back alive. Not just with breath in our lungs but alive, with a renewed sense of purpose and love. The ones of us who survive, coming back with our spirit intact and our souls yet again ready to serve, those are the lads who a Queen should seek to enlist the service of. Those are the gentleman who's armor no longer shines in a way recognizable to the eyes.

Ladies, You can keep looking for the knight in shining armor but remember, a Knight in shining armor has never been to battle.
Is that who You want fighting for You? With You?
Bless,
M.

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Lest We Forget (So just shut up & remember). ©

I grow tired each year when Remembrance Day (Veterans Day) rolls around and brings with it all those folks who are ready to be up in arms about the idea of war. I also find it interesting that on this day most of the people who choose to share their anti war stance as the reason they do not 'celebrate' Remembrance Day can do so because of the freedom allotted them from those same wars that they don't believe in. Let's be clear, we do not celebrate war anymore than we celebrate a young man or woman dying in their prime. What we do respectfully acknowledge is the fact that people OTHER THAN OURSELVES put themselves in death's way to uphold an idea of freedom - not just for themselves but for those who came after them (ie us). Have we accomplished that idea yet? No, but we are much closer because of those who did what they had to do so we could do what we want to do. Sure we have a distance yet to travel but we build on the shoulders of the giants who've come before us, who fought before us. That is what we 'celebrate' so take a moment today to be grateful that You don't have to choose death or freedom. Take a moment today and remember.
That's it.

Bless,
M.

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Echo... ©

Sometimes we forget how powerful we truly are. Sometimes we forget that in just being ourselves, in shining our own light we can drastically impact the course of another person's journey.
A smile, a warm & sincere word doing something small to show someone You care for no other reason than You care can have an effect far greater than You will ever know. Today make a decision to make a decision to love, to nurture, to shine with no desire for reciprocity. Today whisper into the cavern of the Universe.
Bless,
Mark

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Faith In Action. ©

"Nothing external 

can overcome an internal lack of belief 

yet no internal belief 

can overcome an external lack of effort..."

-Mark Sparks 

(Yes I quoted myself but only I was quoted first. Really)

Faith: trust, belief, confidence, conviction;optimism, hopefulness, hope.

Faith has been a topic that's dominated conversations in my life as of late. Just this week I've been approached by several people and spoken to a few friends about the concept of faith.

What is faith? Well, to me, faith - much like love - is a verb not a noun. 

Which is to say it is an action & more specifically it is revealed in action. 

I grew up in a religious home. My Grandma is a heavily devoted prayer warrior and instilled in me a love of God. Going back I cannot remember a time in my life where the concepts of love, grace and faith weren't present. That foundation has served me well. Thanks Gram's. Thanks Mom. I digress. 

As a young man I was groomed as a youth minister. I've even worked on staff and have been blessed to lead both in and out of the church setting. One concept that continually came up with christians was faith. Many christians believe that faith is about belief alone and since leaving the formal church setting many years ago I've learned that many non christians share this same view. I most assuredly agree that faith is based on belief but that is like saying a house is it's foundation. No, a house is built on it's foundation but the foundation alone isn't the house! (For all You biblical folks out there Hebrews 11 aptly titled "Faith in Action").

In order to be faithful or to exercise faith is to live in a way that shows You believe in what You say You believe in. Here's a simple example, if Gregg says He'll meet me at the gym for a workout on Saturday at 2pm guess where I'll be on Saturday at 1:45pm?! The gym! Why? Because I believe that I am going to meet Gregg for a workout (www.GPSFitness.ca). That's faith.

Faith doesn't hope for action, it fuels it. The bigger our faith, the bigger our actions. One of the biggest hindrances to my faith comes when I look for the extreme example of being faithful because that calls me to make a huge jump, and huge leaps are especially challenging when we've not even been consistently taking small ones. Like a workout we, I, must continually strengthen my muscles with progressive load. Like muscles from working in the gym faith grows with continuous & conscious habit building work.

We can never be successful at achieving anything we do not yet see until we can believe that  we can achieve it. But we will never achieve anything we say we believe we can until our work ethic and dedication to it's fruition reveals our faith. 

Nothing external can overcome an internal lack of belief, lack of faith. Yet no internal 'belief' can overcome an external lack of effort, or display of faith.

I wish You faith building challenges and triumphs along Your journey.

And thank You for reading,

M.

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"Fear isn't real. Danger is real..." I Will disagree (sorry Mr. Smith)

For his latest movie "After Earth" Will Smith's voice is heard in the trailer echoing over some ferocious scenes "fear is not real. danger is very real, but fear is a choice."

I fear, Mr. Smith, I disagree. I believe fear is real. Because our emotions are real. And fear, I believe, isn't always a choice. What is for us to choose is how we react to fear. Or better put, how we act when we are face to face with fear. Fear isn't a choice. Our reaction to it is.

Pursuing a dream is scary. Being vulnerable is scary. Setting big & specific goals for ourselves is scary. Commitment to a thing is scary, to a person even more so. But in order to experience the greatest joy, fulfillment and Love we've got to - time and time again -meet, greet and intimately acquaint ourselves with our fear. And as we defeat it daily greatness is our reward. Fear is real. So is the fact that we have a choice in how we handle it. Believe it.
Bless.
M.

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Harness Your Power. Believe In Yourself (a practical exercise to combat self doubt).

To harness something denotes that it already exists. That it doesn't have to be created but instead that thing merely needs to be discovered & directed. 

You already have power, probably significantly more than You know. Our jobs are never to create power - it already exists within us - but to gather it, to combine it with love & learn to use it in order to shine Our inherent light. And step one in this process is to fully believe in it's existence, to  faithfully believe in Self. 

Here's an exercise to combat self doubt. 

First find a spot on Your body that is easily accessed by You but would have to be touched on purpose. Something like gently pinching Your left earlobe. Whatever spot You choose, remember it. Now onto step two.

Recall a time where You had victory over something in Your past that seemed insurmountable, could have been learning to rid a bike as a child or finishing the school year (remember how long that year seemed when that first test in September rolled around!). Whatever the victorious memory, close Your eyes & visualize it. See Yourself in that moment of triumph over great odds. Feel how proud You were in that moment, how strong You were in that moment.  Recall all You went through, how You conquered self doubt and all other challenges internal & external to reach that win.  As You feel that pride in Your preparation, dedication, perseverance and triumph find Your spot (remember the example of pinching that left earlobe) and, this is very important, while feeling all those feelings of triumph during Your visualization "place" those feelings into that spot by (using my example) pinching the left earlobe. Pour them into that spot. Feel the awesomeness & confidence of that experience pouring into Your "spot" (left earlobe) as You touch it. 

Now repeat with another powerful, victorious memory. 

What You are doing is creating a physical point of power, essentially anchoring those feelings of awesome into a place where You can readily retrieve them when You need them. Like most things the more You practice and repeat this exercise the better able You will be in recalling the power of Your victories in moments where fear & self doubt present themselves. 

Happy harnessing.

Bless,

M.

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Just a thought: Our emotions...

As intense as every emotion we feel can be, remember this: we create 'em. Which means we can choose which one to create at any given moment. "Weak is he who permits his thoughts to control his actions; strong is he who forces his actions to control his thoughts." And of course, 'Weak is she who permits her thoughts to control her actions; strong is she who forces her actions to control her thoughts.'

 

 

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