The Benefit of Saying ‘Yes’ to Love Later in Life - Part 2 (episode 293-2)
He loves the sound of rushing water, or waves crashing on the sand.
Mark also can’t get the movie Train Dreams out of his head as it moved him deeply. (On Netflix, and well-worth the watch.) These are some of the ways we got to know Mark Sparrow this week. As far as how he sees the future, he wants to be a good husband, fulfill his creative desires, follow his passions, and work on having good health. In his day-to-day habits he would like to continue more journaling as he sees it as a helpful way to stay encouraged, and to be persistent in moving forward in the best way possible. And he can finally say out loud, ‘I am enough.’ Yes, he certainly is.
Mark Sparrow is our guest this week for Permission to Want More: What’s Next and What’s Left. This is part two of our conversation.
Wherever you are at now is fine, and it's okay.
— Mark Sparrow
Sitting in the Swirl
Thoughts from The Benefit of Saying ‘Yes’ to Love Later in Life - Part 2
Somewhere along the way, many of us have kept messages swirling through our heads. Many of them are not good for us to have, or to believe. They are actually not welcome but we’ve embraced them just the same. Ones like, I’m not enough. Or I’m not where I should be. Or It’s too late for that. Or I have little to offer. Sometimes another person actually spoke these words to us. More often than not, something happened and that’s what we heard. That is what we received. That is what we invited in to stay.
We assigned value to the message even though it was likely not rooted in reality but in our perception, and it now resides in our mind. So we limited how we saw ourselves and we felt like we weren’t worth what we are actually worth. Which brings us to what is something, someone worth? Who decides what has value?
I’ve been wanting to write about this because I have thoughts. If you ask some people What is that worth? They will say Whatever someone is willing to pay. I think that is the business-minded, financial guy who answers that way. He (or she) is thinking about real estate, about art, about diamonds, about stuff.
But what about people? What about how people see themselves? Where is the value? Where is the worth? Well, I’d start with priceless, limitless because we were created by the Creator, and newsflash: We were created to create. Oh if only more of us saw ourselves the way that he does. If more of us saw ourselves as beloved and as blessed, we would turn fear down and we would live full lives. So why don’t we?
We have this gift. The gift of free well, of agency. We don’t always exercise it as we could (I almost said should). An example: in addition to the podcast and blog, I am in coach training. I have not monetized any of these ventures so I accepted the invitation of a new thought: This must not have much value. This must not be worth much. And somehow I translated that to me. I sat in that and allowed some imposted syndrome and other fears to creep in. No thank you! I finally caught myself and realized I was listening to a voice that is not loving, but rather one that is fear-based. There are many things that transpire beyond what I can see, beyond my pay-grade. And I get to rest in that. If I do I feel - peace.
Isn’t it my privilege to trust? To have faith that this thing that keeps me impassioned, keeps me engaged, keeps me creative, keeps me connected, cannot possibly have a worth or value assigned to it. And I’ll tell you what keeps me going: the spark, the words from guests and clients who say something heartfelt and unexpected. I am all in on that alone.
I used to think this venture would only be a ‘success’ if I made 100k. No idea where or how that originated. Go figure. I have some shame around that statement, that it took up residence in my head. They say that to work through shame you need to speak it. So I have. Now, I do wish, I do hope, for success for all of this but it looks a little different now. Or rather it has expanded. I always wanted to inspire and to encourage. And now in addition to that, I will leave it up to God the how, and when of it all. My job? To plant, and to water. He gets to grow. Plus he already knows my value and my worth. Priceless. Just like you.
priceless
— so precious that its value cannot be determined
you, me, everyone
