Truth Is The Only Safe Ground To Stand Up On...

Truth is the only safe ground to stand up on... and it is the only way we can be who we are in the moments where it is vital to be who we are - a lesson I've only recently been blessed to put words to. Thank you.

"Be who you are

in the moments you are called to be who you are

and allow yourself to receive

what you desire."

On our truth is the only safe place to build anything lasting.
To do this, we must embrace who we really are & all that comes with that in order to grow and live joyously.

Too often we hide ourselves because we yearn to hide our flaws. We mask and cover up parts of us over and over until we aren't even sure who we are.

We don't take the time to connect with ourselves, to truly see ourselves and embrace ourselves and then we wonder why we cannot connect, truly connect with another person.
I, Mark Sparks, am imperfect. I am flawed. I've been broken on more than a few occasions and I have much work to do to grow into being the person I most desire to be and fulfilling the goals I most desire to achieve. I take full responsibility for my growth, for reaching my goals and for habitually tuning my ability to truly see.

The beauty in the moment of this clip resonates so deeply with me because it's a moment of decision for both Kas and Noni. It's a moment of complete honesty with each other, but even more, with themselves to themselves. No pretense. No game. No hiding of flaws. A moment to see, to really see.

When we see more than only what our eyes take in, we unlock our ability to speak the true language of the Universe and when we do, we are able to find what is for us with ease and shed what is not without anxiety, fear or worry. When we build on our truth, we are assured a safe place to stand on and build from.
Thanks for reading, I appreciate it greatly.
M.
Instagram @marksparksinc


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I am blessed. Or Happy Dedicated Canadian Gratitude Day!

Recently I had a conversation with someone whose work ethic and heart I admire. They were asking me about a particular accomplishment in my life. I ended the share with the result I was blessed to achieve - winning. He asked me why I said blessed instead of simply "I won." It was a great question because it brought me to a place of incredible gratitude.


I say I am blessed each day because I know how lucky I am to have the opportunities I have - and I don't mean the "spectacular ones" only - I'm talking about the simple things like being able to see, waking up with control of my arms and legs and the rest of my body. I'm blessed to be able to form thoughts, dream my dream and work towards it's birth in the physical realm.


I say I'm blessed because, unknown to many, I've lost so much in my life and on a couple occasions, almost lost life itself. Through very little on my behalf at times I have made it through. To take credit for that would be absurd.


Do I work hard? Yes. My faith would not be proven true otherwise. Do I hope to earn what I receive? Absolutely, though luck often plays a part in success. Do I watch my habits and my thoughts and aim to align them with my vision over and over and over? No doubt.


But, even so, I am blessed. In defeat to learn a lesson and in victory to savor and share its sweet taste.


Happy Dedicated Canadian Gratitude Day!
Hope it's a blessed one.
M.


Ps - if you were looking for fitness and health stuff, head over to www.SPARKSconditioning.com and join me on instagram @sparksconditioning

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It's Not In Our Heads. (Again and Again). A Poem.

Again and again it happens
yet folks still say it's in our heads
yet not even a few week have gone by
before there's another
innocent black man shot dead.
And this isn't just a problem
of them against we
but a problem that has roots
in our lack of unity.
And my heart goes out
to the new families that join the pack
of families who've lost a loved one
simply for being black.
Again and again it happens
yet folks still say it isn't a fact
that life is made more dangerous
when you're born in North America black.


M.


www.MarkSparks.com



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Do The Right Thing. (Grandma Says).

Adversity: Character Builder or Character Revealer?

Someone once told me that adversity builds character. What I've witnessed in my life thus far is that adversity, more often, reveals character.

Almost anyone can "do the right thing," when that thing doesn't present a challenge or is either easy or convenient or both but what we do when something is hard or when something isn't convenient - when things hit the fan - that reveals who we truly are.

My Grandma use to always caution me to be aware of my actions - and reactions - when the going got tough & when things aren't easy. She also taught me, by default, to pay attention to the habitual reactions of those around me. She would ask me if my actions in those hard moments were a reflection of the person I desired to be? She'd encourage me to evaluate my actions against the actions of the person I'd have to grow into in order to reach my goals? And then she taught me to challenge myself to change, to grow actually - and to hold myself accountable to a higher standard, not in the easy moments but in those tough ones. Of course she'd most often punctuate a lesson with a bible verse from memory as well.

"A Leopard Can't Change It's Spots."

But can we really change our habits? Can we really grow?  Can, as the saying goes, an old dog learn new tricks? Absolutely. But growth takes habitual work. It takes meticulous focus. It takes planning and execution to change a habit. It takes implementing systems and habitually measuring and managing progress within that system.

Put simply, growth takes work. Lots of work. Lots of work day in and day out.
But the rewards make it worth it. And, as time goes by, our reaction under fire will reveal the character that we've built with that work, the character of the person we all strive to be: our very best.
M.


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I'm Angry. And I'm Okay With That.

You ever been angry?
Angry, yet void of an exact reason why?
Doesn't that just seem to make you angrier?
I don't mean violent - as in feeling like hurting self or anyone else - but just angry. Angry that things are the way they are. Angry that people hold the views they do. Angry at events unfolding as events sometimes tend to unfold. Angry at people lying to you, about people letting you down?

I'm angry. It could be the history books I've been reading. It could be the anniversary of my Grandma's death. It could be the projects I'm currently working on, the current events I've recently read, the character I'm currently playing, the people I've recently interacted with, the piece I recently finished writing or none of those things at all.

Every day we are bombarded with messages to "be happy" and "think positive" and such and so forth. We are given these messages so much that we begin to believe that being angry isn't right - or worse, that somehow this primal human emotion is wrong and therefore we are wrong.

Anger is part of the process of life. Acting on anger and in anger are two different subjects entirely but being angry sometimes is as natural as... well, living. That isn't a green light to float into the downward spiral of anger because that would mean forgoing the other natural part of life; joy.

I'm angry. And I'm learning that sometimes what's more important than aiming to always figure out why is to aim to simply be okay with that.
M.


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Dear Canadians looking down at America...

Canadians, let us not take on an air of self righteousness too quickly.

Posts that I've read and conversations I've heard over the last few weeks from Canadians are catching me off guard because, somehow, many people seem to believe that racism, classism, sexism and homophobia are "an American" problem and a thing of the past here in Canada. Far from it.

We don't have to look further than our own communities to see examples - both obvious and subtle - of their existence.

Even right here in Toronto where we fly the flag of multicultural pride, people of colour are regularly discriminated against (ever heard of driving while black?), people of lower classes are marginalized (when have we ever destroyed an upper class community of homes to build condos, while scattering the people who currently live there inconveniently all over the GTA), women live in fear because even if they do work up the courage to seek help they are mocked and made to feel small with such comments as "the way they dress, they were asking for it."

We have come a long way but we have a long way yet to travel. Just because we aren't dying in the streets in the same numbers as people of colour are in America - and that isn't just black people, a young latino man was gunned down earlier this week by police too for instance - doesn't mean we are done. Not by a long shot.

Laws aren't enough. Not being killed shouldn't be the standard either. We've got a long way to go. And that journey will take unity. Not just black folks unifying but all folks who know that the current state of the nation isn't right. We need a plan in order to progress and we need to stop thinking that rage will bring about solutions because it won't. Not anymore than a self righteous attitude will.

I pray that we all find some way to change our thinking, our language, our habits and in turn - with love - our time.
M.

@marksparksinc on instagram
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A random rambling turned poem.

We cannot stand by idly
while you lie so easily
talking about equality
when nothing about your actions are equal.
Cause when an out of the ordinary tragedy
becomes a way too ordinary type catastrophe
how can you seriously look at me
and say "but it isn't that bad"?
We'll placate no more
cause it's our lives we are fighting for
and we've come to the point where we can't
afford to stay quiet anymore.
Another tragedy leaves room for no more concessions
no more generic answers to our specific questions.
No more hypothetical solutions to our very definite problems
cause only truth will help to solve them.
No more "maybes" and "what ifs"
cause we are all tired of the bullshit
and though you hurt us we won't shatter
because we know we matter.
I cannot bear witness silently
while you lie so easily
talking about us being free
while these "out of the ordinary" tragedies
grow in frequency
all the while you saying to me
"but it isn't that bad."
...Isn't it?

M.

www.MarkSparks.comwww.MarkSparksWrites.com