Month: January 2024

Much ado about nothing.

Much ado about nothing.

That’s what I told, myself.

That’s what I am currently telling myself.

That’s what I have told, 55.

That’s what I have told, fear.

That’s what I have told, what in the fresh hell.

I look up at a mountain that just will NOT move and I say…

That’s a whole lot of much ado about nothing.

I SHALL overcome.

Whew.

I must admit, I am a bit weary of fighting with this mountain. Enough already!

Life can be tough, beloveds. When it gets a smidge hard just keep telling yourself…

Much ado about nothing!

Then, keep moving forward. This too shall pass. It will. The point is how will YOU be, after your storm, your trial has passed?

I plan to remain more than a conqueror. How? Why?

Because all these fiery trials are truly…

Much ado about nothing.

believing in me still,

Cassandra

#YourLifeMattersToMe

Note: Self-talk is important. Positive self-talk is imperative. When you catch yourself speaking negatively about yourself and your circumstances, beloveds, tell yourself to shut up!

You have no idea how far you can run. Run! Go on now. Keep betting on you. You can do this thing called life. In the meantime, enjoy your now. Keep striving for your future but embrace your today.

One step.

One step.

One step.

You are loved.

You are NOT alone.

Keep on being…YOU!

So what. Stay in the game.

Stay in the game.

You may lose.

So what.

Stay in the game.

Critics will judge your outcome.

So what?

Stay in the game.

You may get hurt.

So what?!

Stay in the game!

You may, in fact, lose. Critics WILL judge your try. You might even get hurt.

So what, beloveds.

Stay in the game.

You shall find the winning 🥇 is all in the try.

How?

Great question!

Keep asking.

staying in the game,

Cassandra

#YourLifeMattersToMe

Note: Don’t judge yourself by your outcomes. It’s not up to you what Life shall do with your try. Just try. Celebrate your try. Embrace the outcome. Love yourself no matter what. You are more than the 🏆 trophy you won or lost.

One step.

One step.

One step.

You are loved.

You are NOT alone.

Keep on being…YOU!

Looking for me.

I’m looking for me.

Have you seen her, beloveds? Tell her to swing by if you run into her.

The woman, staring back at me, is a stranger. This woman that I see wants to take all kind of chances. This woman I see wants to be free of comfort zones. This woman I see wants to try all kind of weird and ridiculous things. I think I shall follow her lead.

I’m looking for me. If you find me, tell me I said to swing by.

asking for A Friend,
Cassandra

#YourLifeMattersToMe

Note: I’m feeling closer to myself than I have for a long time. I find myself thinking ridiculous things. I feel myself wanting to write. I feel myself wanting to experiment. I am wanting. It feels good to want again. It feels good to feel things other than fear.

I stopped by to tell someone to be encouraged. Hang in there. I know the way has been hard. It won’t always be so. Next year will be really great for you. How do I know? Because you’ are going to make it fantastic! Life is what you make it. Be encouraged.


One step.

One step.

One step.

You are loved.

You are NOT alone.

Keep on being…YOU!

Who knew?!😳🥰

Wow!

I have been enjoying getting ready for The Superbowl. I love, love, love watching all the pregame bluster and hoopla.

Yesterday, I came across a YouTube channel where there are UK folks who love NFL 🏈 football!😳🤗🥰

Who knew?!🥰🤗

How deliciously fantastic to listen at these folks commiserating about MY football. 😂

I guess it is no different than my love of AFL, which is Australian Football. They call it Footy. For the life of me I don’t half understand it. It seems to be a cross between football 🏈, ⚽ soccer, 🏉 rugby and a whole bunch of running around whilst passing, half tackling and kicking their ball through their goalie stick thingies or some such. I love it!!!

The commentators get to hollering about what the world I don’t know. I just enjoy the joy that the crowd has. I enjoy the enthusiasm of the combatants.

We are all more alike than we are different. I love how sports bring us all together. I pray, daily, that we are all brought together by love and other shared things.

I love that this blog has brought some of us together!

Life is short, beloveds. Love someone. Starting with you. Let me know what YOU enjoy. Big or small. Silly or serious. Don’t leave me rambling alone.

asking for A Friend,

Cassandra

#YourLifeMattersToMe

Note: Help me stop waking myself up at night wondering about you. Tell me a story…

Remember:

You are loved.

You are NOT alone.

Keep on being…YOU!

Here we go!!!!🤗🏈💃👌

Ah, beloveds!

*hugs self*

The reason, for life, is at hand…

The Superbowl!!!

YYYAAAAAAAAAAASSS!!!!

I looooooooooooove The Superbowl!!…lol.

For TRUE sports fans, NFL fans, to be exact, life begins/ends, with THE Superbowl.

Okay, this a bit of exaggeration. But, only by a smidge.😂🥰

I got my love of sports from my mom. She loved sports. 🏈 Football. Basketball 🏀. ⛳ Golf. Nascar. You name it. She loved hollering at the television about them.

Over time, I, too, joined her in yelling at said 📺 television. We commiserated over some foolishness her team or mine had committed.

Once grown, mom and I grew to calling each other:

Mom: Did you SEE what Kobe did?!!

Me: Did you SSSEEEEEEEEEEE what Tiger did??!!!!

Mom: How ’bout them Cowboys?

Me: How ’bout them Cowboys losing again?!!😳

I miss those times. I miss being able to call mom. I miss waiting on her call.

It took several years to force myself into watching sports, after mom passed away. It was just too painful…*sigh*…knowing her call would never come. I just could NOT see a world where mom and I were not yelling at the television 📺 over some sports crime that had been visited upon one of our teams.

I’m glad I forced myself back into living and enjoying sports with her, in a new way.

Now, I yak at her ALL day. Rambling about upcoming games. I prepare pregame goodies and remind her that her team is fixing to get pounded.

I start the game. I yell at said television 📺. I shout to heaven:

Me: Did you SEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE that mom!😳🏈🥰❤️😆

Ah, mom!

That’s what love/joy looks like to me…

Here we go!!!

living, er, enjoying sports with mom,

Cassandra

#YourLifeMattersToMe

Note: Life is short, beloveds. Live. If you have lost loved ones and not sure how to keep going, well, just keep going. It’s hard. Impossibly so. Yet, life really does go on. It has to. WE have to.

You may have lost a cherished job. Or friend. Or…I guess the loss doesn’t matter. Loss hurts. We have to move past our losses, beloveds. I am learning how to live. Period.

Outcomes are becoming irrelevant almost. Why? Because life is just toooooooooo short!

Get out there and LIVE. Your heart deserves it. There is much love in store if you are brave enough to reach for it. If afraid, so what?! Reach for love anyway!

You are loved.

You are NOT alone.

Keep on being…YOU!

For Justin. For me.

Hey there, Justin.

Your comment snatched my heart. Stopped me in my tracks, to be honest.

I have FINALLY dragged myself out of Doritos. Oh, yea, I have not yet had the courage to admit I had dived, just a bit, back into some comfort eating.

Dammit. Crap. Fresh hell.

There are honestly days when I want to tell mom I do NOT care to have to keep caring! Crap!!

I miss mom, Justin. I miss her telling me that I can do it when I KNOW I can’t.

Your comment is a reminder why I MUST keep going. Life is short.

There are days when I have wondered if my try will EVER amount to anything. I wondered this just the other night. After a month of try and try and try and try and try and dammit try some more.

ONLY to find myself fighting with mom grief. Again. Again! Crap. Sorry, mom.

Only yesterday, and again today, I felt inadequate and wondered what I could say that would be of ANY benefit. To anyone. Even to/for me.

Justin, I told myself I would try. That I would give what I had. Even when the giving, the trying seemed of little or no effect.

Keep going, my friend. Your efforts ARE making an impact. Your words lifted a heart in need of lifting. Mine. Others, I am sure.

EACH time, you get out of bed, you win. EACH time, you do even when you don’t want to, you win. EACH time, you tell your try to kick rocks, then angrily try best you can, you win.

Yet, Justin, even when you are too tired to try, you win. How? Why? Because you are loved and not alone.

Justin, you are:

More than you know.

So much more than you imagine.

You CAN:

Do wonders.

Make wonders happen in your life and in the lives of others.

You WILL:

Have exceedingly and abundantly above all that you could ever ask or think.

How do I know? Because, God said so and He does NOT lie. Someone might say that you may not believe in God. So what? I have enough faith for you…😂

Be encouraged, Justin. I have asked the same questions as you. I STILL ask them, at times.

The ONLY difference is that I no longer allow fear, tired, disappointment, lazy or any other thing or emotion to keep me from trying. The outcome is not up to me.

Be encouraged, Justin. You got this. God has you. How much safer/loved could you be?

Keep sharing your heart and being open to love and I promise your heart SHALL be filled.

here,

Cassandra

#YourLifeMattersToMe

ttnette37@yahoo.com

Note: Be encouraged, beloveds. We all we got but we all we need, eh? Us and a few billion more peep.

One step.

One step.

One step.

You are loved.

You are NOT alone.

Keep on being…YOU!

Heart check Monday.

It’s heart check time!

Time to make sure you are being good to you, beloveds. Smh. Forever having to stay on you about this!…lol.

I have found myself giving myself much too hard a time. I am trying to do better. Trying to not fret about why the trying has appeared to be sooooooooooooooooo trying, here lately.

I have refocused. Reminded myself about what is important. I have told myself to get back focusing on the try and letting the outcome be whatever it turns out to be.

I remembered what joy looks and feels like. I have remembered what love looks and feels like.

It’s amazing how life seems to change, as we change our perspective about life.

I won’t be long. I have given myself permission to take a few days off for myself. I may read. I may sleep. I may watch endless shows lamenting who will win/lose the upcoming Superbowl. The point is to give myself the time to just…be.

Be sure to just…be.

I am getting my groove back. Slowly. Ack! Things are going sooooooooooooooooo slllllowwwwwwwwwwwww!!!

I hear that slow and steady wins the race. Ha! Hurry, I want to tell slow and steady. I have things to do!

Huh? We are supposed to be slowing time and taking time to breathe?!…hmm…okay then.

Be encouraged, beloveds. Remember to let yourself experience joy, today. Then, rinse and repeat for tomorrow!

We got this!

Uh, oh!

I hear a cup of coffee hollering for me.

Take care of your heart. It is much too precious to be left alone. 🙂

Cassandra

#YourLifeMattersToMe

Note: Um, you supposed to be out there living life one step at a time, remember? Scat!

Thank you, Monday!

Thank you, Monday!

For all the gifts you are going to bring, today.

I know. I know. Folk seem to be terrified of you, Monday. I don’t know whatever for.

You are amazing, Monday.

You contain wonders just waiting to be discovered.

Ah, Monday, you are sooooooooooooooooo full of:

New beginning(s).

Opportunity.

Challenges.

Obstacles.

Mountains.

Oasis.

Valleys.

Beaches.

Laughter.

Tears.

Anxt.

Surprises.

Suspense.

Unknown.

Revealed.

Oh, Monday, I can not wait to see what you have in store for me, today.

I thank you, Monday, for showing up to give me the opportunity to try, again. The winning or the losing, of the game, matters not to me. Not, anymore, Monday.

ALL I care about is getting in the game. Period. I shall enjoy EVERY moment. I shall laugh. I shall love. I shall embrace. I shall interact. How can I NOT be the victor, Monday?!

I appreciate you, Monday. I no longer dread hearing your name. Forgive me for heaping upon you gloom that never arrived. I choose to see all you have in store. Tell Tuesday to be patient. I can only live one day at a time.

embracing Monday,

Cassandra

#YourLifeMattersToMe

Note: Life is short. Enjoy your Monday. Don’t dread your day(s). Look for the good. Look for the love. Keep on keeping on. Don’t worry about what may or may not be fair. So what if it wasn’t? Nothing you can do about that now, eh, beloveds?

One step.

One step.

One step.

You are loved.

You are NOT alone.

Keep on being…YOU!

Take your eyes off hard: Objects in mirror are farther away than they appear.

Every since mom passed, I have been running around like the scarecrow, in The Wizard of Oz. Afraid, of my own shadow. Afraid, of what to do, next. Afraid, of what to do, now.

Afraid. Ack!

I’m no longer afraid to admit to being afraid, so there is that. It was only after finding the courage, to say ‘I am not strong’ that I found the courage to admit to having lived a life full of fear.

Not for others. Just me. I could fight, and did, valiantly, for everyone on earth, except me. What on earth is that????????????!

Get it together, Cassandra, The Universe said to me. I listened. I got it together. For ME, this time.

It’s amazing what happens when one decides NOT to focus on the what ifs, of life. Instead, choosing to focus on the why nots?

Why not?

Why NOT, me?

Why not, ME?

Why not, I ask 55?

Maybe, perchance, perhaps, I may stumble upon dreams, once imagined, never imagined, unimaginable?

Could this be?

Could this actually BE?

In the here?

In my now?

MY now?

Not something I have read about.

Ah, Cassandra. Do you have the guts to try?

No.

So what!?

I will.

Do what?

Beats me.

*shrug*.

God and Life know and They ain’t tellin’.

Yeppers, I was most efficient, beloveds, taking on the full weight of the world. I heaved everyone else’s rocks/buckets and filled them. For them. Exhausted, I had little, to nothing, to spare for me.

So, my rocks, stayed, at the bottom of the hill. And, my bucket(s), stayed, empty.

Ack! Yikes! Egads!

betting on me,

Cassandra

#YourLifeMattersToMe

Note: I told hard to shut up, this morning. Rather, I told my feels to shut up. Life was being hard. So what? I had been so focused on how hard life was being, I forgot to just be. I forgot to keep on keeping on. I forgot to be about being about it.

All I saw, beloveds, all I FELT was the hard. Which, made me exhausted. Too exhausted, I told myself, to keep my act right acting right.

This morning, I found myself enjoying my job. I forgot about system issues. I forgot about troublesome life issues. I forgot the hard. I remembered to embrace my day. ALL of it!.

Life is short, beloveds. Don’t let the hard discourage you. Hard is your bestie. Hard keeps you focused. Hard keeps you trying. Keep going. You CAN. You SHALL. You already have. Simply by trying. Still.

One step.

One step.

One step.

You are loved.

You are NOT alone.

Keep on being…YOU!

Building on hope: Mom, I think I’m ready. Part I.

I awoke…

Hopeful.

I awoke…

Ready.

I awoke…

Hmmm?

I awoke!

It feels like I have been living a waking nightmare. Terrified, of the present. Fearful, of the future.

I don’t know why. Before, I was content to keep on keeping on. Before, I reached 55, I was perfectly satisfied with being satisfied and waiting for my dreams to arrive.

I don’t know what in the fresh hell has gotten into 55! 55 keeps running around. Stamping, snorting and wailing about how short time is!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!1

I know. I know, I keep telling 55. Be patient. Let me get things together.

No!

NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!

55 is about to drive me up ten walls. I don’t know what to DO with this stranger, 55, me, Cassandra. ME!

Where did this ME come from?! She is:

Terrifying.

Unafraid.

Ready to leap tall buildings in a single bound.

Wait, I say.

Wait!

I am not ready!

So what?!!

55 keeps shouting, ‘so what’ in my ears. Waking me, in the midnight hour(s).

Go way, I say.

NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO! We got thangs to do, 55 shouts at me.

I don’t know what to DO with her. She is running around making plans. She is packing up and getting ready to live her dream of being near the ocean. She cares not one whit that she knows not where or how or why or what. She is just ready to goooooooooooo!!

Fresh hell, Universe, what do I DO with her? What do I do with ME, now? I can scarcely sit still. My comfort zone no longer suits. No longer fits this me. THIS ME!!!!

Ah, God, what do I DO WITH ME NOW?

asking for a friend,

Cassandra

#YourLifeMattersToMe

Note: If this piece, and others, appear to be half finished…they are. I am creating each piece, my life, in real time. I wish I had complete answers. I am learning it’s okay to NOT have the answers, in full. Not just yet. If ever. Ah, I see I am leaving out commas, on purpose. To let myself know that it IS okay to create new rules for me. Whew! Have to leave a comma, or two, sprinkled else the lungs won’t do their lungery things.

Be encouraged. It’s time for us to launch out. On HOPE, this time. Not, fear. Not, doubt. Not, foreboding. The unknown is simply unknown. Let us take an adventure, shall we? There is no telling who we may meet. We have NO idea where we shall end up. Ah!…*delicious shiver*.

Let’s go, eh? We have spent enough time in the shallows, haven’t we? Let’s find some others to take with. Don’t forget to bring some snacks! I shall make my world famous Double Chocolate Chip Muffins! I may, or may not, however, share…hehe…

You are loved.

You are NOT alone.

Keep on being…YOU!