Month: February 2024

You can soar from your current position.

A funny thing happened on the way to my dreams…

For months and months, my heart had been driving me up ten walls. Thankfully, beloveds, I can now speak in past terms. Whew!

My heart had been pestering there was more she wanted to do with my life.

More.

More.

More.

The word chased me to bed.

More.

More.

More!

The word chased me out of 🛏 bed.

More.

More.

More!

More what!?

I couldn’t ignore the stupid word. Nothing was satisfying anymore. See!? There is that ‘more’ again!

I asked God what on earth was going on with my heart. God said ‘beats me’ and left ME to figure things out for myself. How dare!

Finally, I had a heart to heart cry with God and asked WHY He would give me a dream and then not let me fly!

I wanted to do this, that and the other thing, but life was currently in the way.

He asked one sentence that stopped me in my tracks:

Why can’t you soar from where you are right now?

Hhmmm.

I was forced to ask myself:

Why can’t you soar from where you are right now?

Can you soar from where you are right now?

Will you soar from where you are right now?

What things do you need to help you soar right now?

Hhmmm.

Ah.

Aha!

After a hard and honest talk with ME, I began to surf YouTube. As background, I was never into YouTube. For years and years.

I paid for the cable. Flipped gaskets over high internet bill over usage. Wondered why on earth sis and niece forever were carrying on about YouTube this and YouTube that.

One day, I wondered on, wandered around, and th rest was history. Now, I have to schedule time. Otherwise, I could spend a lifetime watching udon noodles being made.

While surfing, some tutorials on website building and other things I would need to learn popped up. Yikes!

God heard me! So, I started a playlist and got to pondering my what next and what now.

I had also determined I was going to find a more modern apartment with central air. I asked myself if this was a deal breaker because I liked my neighborhood. It’s quiet. Neighbors doing bother each other.

I live in central location of the stores and post office etc. It’s the perfect spot. Just older building and upstairs. I considered if I wanted to live beneath folk stomping upstairs.

I think I may stay where I am!

I also pondered on how much time I am allowing myself to learning how to create and build my own weird website and how much I am willing to put out, monthly, if I never make a dime.

Am I writing to encourage, to entertain, to make money or all three? If so, do I do a website with blog? Do I stick with just a blog and play around with that?

Questions. Questions!

I decided to soar from where I am. Right now. Here, I shall plant my 🚩 flag. I have no idea where or how things will turn out. I am just going to create my own opportunity and see what happens.

Right now, I am watching my favorite YouTube channels in a new way. I am pondering what I like about them. Why I choose one channel over another.

Hopefully, this will help me with this blog so I can present my magnificent words in a more eye pleasing way…😂.

I love a good meal. Half the enjoyment is how it looks on the plate. I am going to learn to feed yall steak on something other than on a paper plate.🥸😂🤷‍♀️

In the meantime, beloveds, I just stopped by to encourage you to soar from where you are. You will get to your somewhere sooner or later. Or, you may end up someplace totally unexpectedly.

Look around you. Look within you. Then, look up and keep moving forward. We got thangs to do.

doing thangs from here,

Cassandra

#YourLifeMattersToMe

Note: Um, you are supposed to be soaring! Scoot!

One step.

One step.

One step.

You are loved.

You are NOT alone.

Keep on being…YOU!

It’s awfully hard to stay discouraged when you choose to stay committed.

It’s awfully hard to stay discouraged when you choose to stay committed.

I had been soooooooooooooooooooooo discouraged. ALL week. And, I mean all week?

Every since my friend’s dad passed away, I have been feeling MY mortality.

I don’t know how much time I have left.

Ack.

I decided I was going to get on with my life. Taking my feels with me. My feels did NOT feel like keeping act right acting right. My feels wanted to stay righteously indignant over my try not getting me to where I want to be.

I told my feels to shut up and get on with LIVING life with what I have, currently. So what if I don’t yet have what I have been imagining in my dreams.

I am awake. Now. I have what I have. Now. I choose to embrace and enjoy my life. Now.

Yea, beloveds, it’s awfully hard to stay discouraged when you choose to stay committed!

Commit to your try. Commit to the promise you have made to God, to Life, to The Universe. Commit to embracing the outcomes of your try.

And, if the outcome is not tasty, tweak your recipe and try again!

You will never know where you will be unless and until you…be.

Let today be the last day you will ever contemplate giving up on you and your dreams. You will want to quit a billion times. That’s okay. You had just best tell quit to join lazy and apathy and doubt and fear on the curb!

Get going now, beloveds. We got thangs to do!

doing thangs with you,

Cassandra

#YourLifeMattersToMe

Note: Refuse to focus on all the foolishness around you. Folk will act and do as they will. Pray for them. Wish them well and keep it moving.

One step.

One step.

One step.

You are loved.

You are NOT alone.

Keep on being…YOU!

Ah.

Ah.

I’m having a blast, beloveds.

Daydreaming.

Planning.

Gathering.

Learning.

Stumbling.

Falling.

Rising.

Pursuing.

Life is short, beloveds. Get out there and live.

Soar.

Where you are.

You don’t need a fat wallet to be satisfied.

You can experience joy right NOW.

Keep doing you.

Keep doing hard. It WILL pay off in the end.

Don’t join the timid souls who are giving up on everything, and everyone because life is hard or not playing fair.

So what?

Life IS hard, at time and does not always play fair.

Stay in the game.

Don’t worry about the score.

Don’t concern yourself with who wins the trophy 🏆.  If you, fine. If not, be gracious with the winner.

What a wonderful day!

embracing my moments,

Cassandra

#YourLifeMattersToMe

Note: Okay, so you are supposed to be enjoying your moments.

One step.

One step.

One step.

You are loved.

You are NOT alone.

Keep on being…YOU

Real talk: Set your own number.

I am finishing up my pieces for the week.

I used to do three. Every day.

Why?

It’s to keep me from doing 30! 🥰😂🤷‍♀️🥸

I can’t help it. I love thinking about folk. I love encouraging. I love, love, absolutely love to love.

I love you.

See!?🥰

Words are important to me. Always have been. I never heard ‘I love you’ from my parents. They were old school. Meaning they were never taught HOW to express their feels in word form or affection form.

Mom showed her love through her cooking and acts of service. She fought health issues but cooked for everyone.

Dad showed his love, I guess in his mind, through hard raising. He spared not the rod, ow. He did teach me to love learning as he took us to the library on the regular.

Anywho, I had been talking to a friend about my writing. He had FINALLY got around to the wonder of me and insisted I had to go viral somehow. Apparently, there is a real need for folk to know they are loved and not alone. Who knew?…*Cassandra finds it amusing how men folk think they are terribly wise when they give women folk ideas women folk already knew and had*

He said the writing etiquette was generally three pieces of content daily. Don’t ask me where three came from.

I figured I needed to whittle down to somewhere less than 10. Unless emergencies arise, and I just HAD to share.

Three worked for quite a while. One day, my heart only felt like writing two pieces. Stubbornly, I made myself write a third piece.

I asked myself WHY three were necessary? They weren’t. I then asked myself if it was more important to keep a habit or was I  willing to modify said habit?

Now, I write two pieces. There may be times when I do just one…hhmm. Nah!🥰🥸😂

The point is, beloveds, is to set your own number. Yes, it’s good, and needed to get the counsel of folk.

As it is your life, you get the last word. That is, after mom, dad, significant other, God, Life and The Universe, your job and every other person who likes to run your life. You get to squeeze in there somewhere. 😉🤗🤣

I think this is piece number two so I had best stop here. Best not do a third after all the carrying on about stopping with two…hhmmm.

Ppssst. Don’t tell, beloveds, I feel another piece scrambling around. Speaking of scrambling…

brb,

Cassandra

#YourLifeMattersToMe

Note: Be encouraged. Nuff said. Oh yea, I love you.♥️🥰

Why don’t You? Why won’t you?

Me: Why don’t You?

God: Why won’t you?

Me: Why did You?

God: Why didn’t you?

Me: When will you?

God: Why couldn’t you?

Me: You didn’t ask loud enough.

God: You were too loud to hear.

Me: Ack.

God: Ack.

Me: What now?

God: Now what?

Me: Kinda hard to argue with Your logic.

God: True that.

🤷‍♀️🥰,

Cassandra

#YourLifeMattersToMe

Note: I grew up being admonished to never question God. How the hooey can you ever build a RELATIONSHIP with Someone you can’t have HONEST dialog with?

Life is challenging. Life challenges us to keep questioning our why and our way so we can live a life with integrity and not have to worry about why.

Be encouraged. Stop looking for easy. Easy is other there hanging out with lazy, defeat and discouragement. Do you REALLY want to spend your years with THEM?!😳

One step.

One step.

One step.

You are loved.

You are NOT alone.

Keep on being…YOU!

All is NOT lost.

All is NOT lost.

This is what I told myself, today.

This is what I have been having to tell myself EVERY day, here lately.

I have had to tell fear and doubt to kick rocks.

I have had to tell my feels to take two seats.

I have had to turn on the lights.

I have had to take out the trash.

I have had to back away from the Lay’s and Doritoes.

I have had to get as much rest as my anxt will allow. Anxt sure can be loud, yikes.

When going through, beloveds, it is important to remember that all truly is not lost.

And, if you do lose something, remember that God and The Universe have taken all things into account. Some things need to go. Other things need to be tweaked. Still others need to be changed or rearranged.

It’s the in the meantime that can get awfully frustrating and discouraging if we allow.

I did not feel like working today. Yet, working has been a welcome distraction from grief and hard. Grief, it appears, does not care too much for light and bad singing and dish washing. It took off a bit ago. Yeppers, grief got annoyed and lazy was not feeling chores so took off with grief and discouragement.

Now, I am just left with joy and peace. My heart is still a bit heavy yet joy is mixed in with it.

I am keeping my promise of writing everyday. Whether I feel like it or not. I am also pondering on things and determining which way to go to get a podcast going and upgrading to a higher WordPress plan so I can take advantage of more treats and benefits I have no idea how to use…*shrug*.

I hear a cup of coffee calling. Just stopped by to splash you with a bit of encouragement. Be encouraged. Everything truly WILL be okay.

Take care of your heart for it is precious and you are priceless. Love someone. Starting with you.

cheering for you,

Cassandra

#YourLifeMattersToMe

Note: One step at time. And, if all you can take, today, is one step…that’s okay. It’s one step closer to your dream coming true. We got this.

One step.

One step.

One step.

You are loved.

You are NOT alone.

Keep on being…YOU!

Keep pushing through.

Keep pushing through.

Bad news is everywhere.

Every step seems to be harder than the one before it.

The answer to every question appears to be no.

Keep pushing through.

In the meantime keep being good to you. It’s easy to do things that don’t serve us when we are going through hard times.

Spend time with folks who will uplift you. Uplift yourself. Help someone else. Keep telling yourself the truth. You are doing everything that you know.

The Universe will open its doors to you. 🚪 🗝

Be encouraged.

You CAN.

You WILL.

pushing through with you,

Cassandra

#YourLifeMattersToMe

Note: You got this.

.

I don’t know where I am. But, I know where I am not.

I don’t know where I am.

But I don’t know where I am not.

I am not:

Lost.

Defeated.

Without hope.

I am:

Hopeful.

Joyful.

Resolute.

I have no idea:

If I can or will.

This I DO know:

I will try.

Every day.

With all that I have.

And, that will be enough for me.

not lost,

Cassandra

#YourLifeMattersToMe

Note: Never, ever, ever give up on you. The world will do what it will. Hang in there, beloveds. We got this. Be encouraged. Keep looking up. Keep moving forward. Your breakthrough will come. When? God knows but He’s not telling. He wants it to be a surprise.

One step.

One step.

One step.

You are loved.

You are NOT alone.

Keep on being… YOU!

Believe in YOU.

Believe in YOU, beloveds.

Not the mistakes you have made.

Believe in your future, beloveds.

Not in the past that has clouded your present.

Believe in your try, beloveds.

Not in the failures your try has left behind.

Why?

Because you are getting all your no’s out of the way!

Be encouraged. Stop focus on what you don’t have. Use your little and ask God and The Universe to make it a lot. Look at what Jesus did with a couple of fish and bread!

believing with you,

Cassandra

#YourLifeMattersToMe

Note: Keep doing you. You are the miracle you have been seeking. Haven’t you noticed the changes made in you? How do I know? You wouldn’t be here otherwise!

Ah, beloveds, be encouraged. We can do this. We can. Life is so very precious. Breathe it in. You are worth it. Keep going. We got thangs to do, don’t we?

Be not discouraged. Your disappointment is leading you to greatness. You shall see.

One step.

One step.

One step.

You are loved.

You are NOT alone.

Keep on being…YOU!

Prepare: Don’t fear the storm.

Alexa interrupted a perfectly good cup of coffee to holler at me at an impending storm which is due to hit at midnight.

The bag of trash that has been nagging me for TWO days, arched it’s eyebrow with a look that it advised it would behoove me to bust a move and take it out.

I weighed the choice between leaving my comfortable chair against the strong possiblity of something awful gonna grow and crawl out of the trash after being snowed in for who knows when long.

As you can imagine I got some act right quick, fast and in a super hurry!🏃‍♀️

Done!

Now, I can relax and enjoy whatever I was enjoying before the trash interrupted me.

Huh? Oh, yes. Coffee! Care to join me?

Don’t fear upcoming storms, beloveds. Prepare as best you can then get on with enjoying your day and life.

Challenging times comes to just that: Challenge us!

Tell woe is me to shut up already. Take out some so what and sprinkle it liberally over every corner of your life.

Tough stuff happened. So what? See how easy that was?🤣

Your life can and will be as amazing as you choose and allow it to be. If you don’t like where you are prepare to move on to something else.

DO something. Doesn’t have to be momentous. Just do something to get momentum going. Momentum will take care of the rest.

By the by, beloveds, do you know EXACTLY what you want God and The Universe to give to you? Specifically?

If someone knocked on your door and asked would you be able to tell them? If not, get to daydreaming and fashioning what you want things to look like.

Then, open your eyes and do. I realized I have accomplished much more than I thought in pursuit of my dream.

I have consistently written every day for so long now I can’t remember the last time I didn’t write.

I have also been using my job to strengthen my skills. I talk to oodles of folk every day. I am using every interaction to improve communication and work on my soft skills. I am super passionate and super excitable so I am forever working to temper my passion so I can communicate effectively.

I have been working on my health. Working on my chicklets, my mentals. I don’t know why it tickles to call my brain chicklets. 🤦‍♀️🤷‍♀️🤣

I have asked some folk for help who said they would. They didn’t. I have tried to network on our workplace and asked for what I needed/wanted. Nothing happened.

I have asked my work to utilize my gifts and skills and reached out as high as I could go. Was advised I would be utilized. I wasn’t.

After George Floyd was murdered, I reached out to countless organizations and folks who said they cared and would help folk like me. They said they would partner with me so I could help make a difference. They didn’t. Nothing was different.

I have offered myself and offered myself and offered myself. So far at 55 there have been no takers.

I have asked God many, many, many times why my try, my ask, my effort, why me, ME, has not been pulled off the shelf and utilized in the manner I have always longed to be.

No answer. Nothing. Nada!

In the meantime,  I prepare. To be used. To be able to encourage as many as life will allow.

I stand, prepared.

Waiting.

Available.

In the meantime, I do that which I long to do: Encourage folk.

Hhmm.

Ah.

Aha!

I am grateful, beloveds, that God and Life and The Universe did not answer my desperate cry for rest and sabbatical yet.

Why? Because, I have been given so much more than a sabbatical could ever have been given.

I would never have learned how to embrace hard. I would never have found out how much I care about things.

I would have never seen the fight in me grow so strong I no longer care what happens as I KNOW God is with me and I CAN do all things through Christ who strengthens me.

I would never have seen me grow so much I can finally grieve for my dad.

I would never have grown so much I am unapologetically me no matter what folk may or may not think of me.

Delay has not been denial. Delay has been God’s Grace so I could learn to stand, grow and LIVE. In the present. Joyful. Hopeful. Resilient.

I would have never met this me. This me, no longer a stranger. This me, a wonderfully goofy friend! I am no longer my own worst enemy.

Hallelujah. 🥰🤗🙌

Prepare, beloveds. Your time, your turn will come. In the meantime, look around you and see all that you have accomplished in your waiting.

If my dreams never come to pass, I will and am enjoying my life.

Life is short. Live. Love someone. Start with you.

prepared for my dream to come true,

Cassandra

#YourLifeMattersToMe

#HereForIt

Note: I sometimes wonder why we were not born fully formed. I guess logistically, for one, we wouldn’t fit in mom’s tummy.😊😁😂

I imagine it’s in part for us to learn all the lessons we will need to lead and act out a successful life. What does success mean to you?

One step.

One step.

One step.

You are loved.

You are NOT alone.

Keep on being…YOU!