100 Years – A Blog, A Magazine. It's JustsumInspiration!

Do you know what a generational curse is?

You, like myself I’m sure have either heard the word before or if you’ve done research on your own family history, I’m sure you’ve actually “seen” it in action. While I couldn’t find the word “generational curse” in the dictionary as I figured I wouldn’t. I have my own definition of what this word truly means and that’s this:

A generational curse is an era, period, range, class or lifetime of something being carried down from one generation to another generation.

In other words, if your family has always been known to be alcoholics, maybe that started with your great, great, great, great grandpa or grandma and now, you’ve noticed that everyone in your family can’t seem to “break the spirit of alcoholism.” A generational curse is something your family has always done, what your family is consistently known to do and unfortunately what even your kids will continue to do unless someone stands up and says “enough is enough!”

Believe it or not, while alcoholism is just an example of what some families may struggle with, for others it could be infidelity, lying, cheating, gambling or even prison. Which was the case for author Mark Baynard.

Oftentimes I’ve heard about generational curses and wondered what in the heck was it and why were people so interested in discussing the topic. Needless to say, I got my first glimpse of what a generational curse was through T.D. Jakes who once preached a sermon entitled “The Spellbreaker.”

Within that series I got an understanding of what a generational curse was all about, In this series, he began to talk about marriage and looking into the lineage of your spouse, what their like and overall what their family history details, because all those things would end up being passed down to your children. DNA is something else however when it comes to generational curses, it’s something that very few people really do research about to find the real reason why we act and/or do or think the way we do. These actions all stem from the root of someone or something. I believe in order to successfully break a generational curse over your life, you seriously have to do some research on your family history and that is exactly what Mark Baynard did. While a journey of this nature isn’t easy, Mark Baynard shows in his book ‘100 years: A journey to end a vicious cycle’ that it’s totally CAPABLE!

You see, Mark’s family had a generational curse attached to them as well and that was the Prison system. Unfortunately, due to quite a few bad choices, Mark found himself adding to that generational curse lineage, but one thought was about to change it all. Mark Baynard had an epiphany after leaving his probation officer one day. According to Mark, it was something about that visit that made him think about his life-choices as well as his future. A successful future that many of his male family members weren’t experiencing because they were behind bars.

Birth is when our opportunities to value “life” begin, but we have until our lives stop to make and maintain positive changes.”
Mark Baynard – Author “100 Years: A Journey to End A Vicious Cycle”

Mark didn’t know why all of a sudden he became so hungry to know why the male members of this family kept failing; but he had an insatiable urge to find out and what he found out, was like a lightbulb that turned on brighter than it ever had before. This newfound discovery became the changing point in Mark Baynard’s life.

Mark came from a good family, he met his real mother at the age of 5 and began living with her and his other siblings. Mark had lived with his dad and step-mother for quite some time so while this was an adjustment, his mom and dad were very good role models and raised him well, along with his grandmother whom Mark attributes much of his wisdom lessons from.

So, one might say – Well, if family life was so great then what really happened? How can someone from a good family still end up in prison? And Mark has an answer for that, its called “The Crossroads of Life” – A former pastor of mine used to say “The choices you make will determine the life you choose” and unfortunately for Mark as well as the men in his family, these “choices” ultimately landed them all behind bars. The discovery Mark came to realize is that when he wrote down each of his family members that had been to prison, including himself and those currently serving time behind bars – it totaled to ONE HUNDRED YEARS!

While this devasted Mark to his core, he knew that as Sam Cooke once song so beautifully “A Change Is Gonna Come” and that change he determined was going to be through HIMSELF FIRST! and for future generations to come.

“The problem lies not in standing at these crossroads, but in each individual’s response”
Mark Baynard, Author “100 Years: A Journey to End A Vicious Cycle”

This book was so good, I found myself relating to Mark’s story in wanting to be a change agent in regards to my own family history. This includes putting a big stop sign on behavioral choices, old patterns and approaching things differently let’s say than my grandmother, her mother or even my own mother had done for the sake of my own two children.

In Mark’s book, he’ll take you on his very personal journey of ups and downs in his fight to close the gap to the “generational behavioral mindset” his family had come so used too. Mark’s journey to improve himself as well as make a difference in his community is met with lots of heartache and pain but shows Mark’s determination to break barriers and make the necessary changes his family desperately needed.

This book will have you crying, guessing and cheering all at the same time. I honestly couldn’t put it down and you won’t either! Now you know how I do, I can’t give you ALL the details of the book as I want you to read it for yourself. This would be a great book club read and the perfect Christmas gift for yourself, a family member or a friend. “100 Years: A Journey to End A Vicious Cycle” will motivate you to finally put an end to whatever generational family cycle you’re in and show you how to live your best life despite the odds set up against you.

Your past will never dictate your future unless you want it too, your future TRULY CAN change for the better and Mark Baynard is a true; living, breathing, inspirational testimony of that!

You can get both of Mark’s books “100 Years: A Journey to End A Vicious Cycle and 100 Years Part II: Truth Be Told” on >>>>>> Amazon!