Month: September 2024

We ARE The World.

I can’t tell you why, beloveds, but I find great solace in listening to ‘We Are The World’ when my heart is heavy. Don’t ask me why. It just does. The song reminds me of a time when the world came TOGETHER. As ONE voice. As ONE people. To help and love one another.

The song is decades old. The sentiment never changes. Ah, beloveds, that we all chose to come TOGETHER, once again!

We can. WE can. We CAN. IF, we ALL choose to. I choose.

How about you?

asking for A Friend,

Cassandra

#YourLifeMattersToMe

Note: There are sooooooooooooo many voices attempting to divide us all. I absolutely REFUSE to give up on my fellow man. Call me a big dummy. I’ll own that. Until we all come together in love and harmony, I pray. Ah, God. Help us all to get some act right. Love someone, beloveds. Starting with you. Extend your hand to those who don’t look like, talk like, believe like, or live where you live.

We ARE the world…

One step.

One step.

One step.

You are loved.

You are NOT alone.

Keep on being…YOU!

Get up.

Get up.

Look up.

Cheer up.

The race can still be won.

One step at a time.

One day at a time.

One pebble at a time.

Your mountain shall move.

moving mountains with you one pebble at a time.

Cassandra

#YourLifeMattersToMe

Note: Great things take time. Be encouraged. Keep moving forward. These obstacles are just lessons which are teaching you wisdom, which is greater than gold. Whatever the day brings enjoy it.

One step.

One step.

One step.

You are loved.

You are NOT alone.

Keep on being…YOU!

Don’t be afraid to fail.

Ack!

Geeeeeeeeeeeeeeezzzz!!!

*stomps foot*

*sigh*

I have been trying to teach myself how to transfer videos from Canva to Instagram. I am ready to scream already!!!

Times past, beloveds, I would have used the excuse ‘I don’t know how’ to keep myself from trying the little I HAVE learned.

Now, I try. Badly. I THINK I have figured out that you have to first download the video and then share or some such a thing.

Ack!!!!

SOMETHING is happening. The little white circle IS circling. Perhaps something shall post there. Perhaps not. Still, I am satisfied with my meager attempt to reach out to the world to let someone know they are loved and not alone.

Don’t be afraid to fail, beloveds. Fail, spectacularly. Then, dust yourself off and find something else to tear up until you figure out how…..hahahahahahahahahahahahahaha!!

I used to strive for perfection. Now, I strive to be as excellent as I can possibly be in this terribly frayed and flawed human called Cassandra.

Me is all I have. Me is all I can give. I am satisfied with this old, tore up me that is forever tearing up SOMETHING.

I am seizing THIS day. Shakily. Unhurried. Wondering. How wonderful!

Take care to remember you can only do what you can do. That’s it. KNOWING this, beloveds, why can’t you cut YOU some slack, okay?

asking for A Friend,

Cassandra

#YourLifeMattersToMe

Note: I KNOW I have flooded your inboxes, beloveds. Yet, someone is terribly discouraged and on the verge of giving up. I can NOT give up on him/her/them. I dare not. Be encouraged. Keep moving forward. Ever forward. Stop looking at the waves. Don’t fear the storm. You are NOT alone. You SHALL survive AND thrive. I promise.

How do I know? I did. I have. I am. God is no respecter of persons. Meaning, your life, safety and wellbeing is just as important as mine. Your steps are carefully watched, beloveds. Yes, I know. It feels as though your cries have fallen on deaf ears.

You pray. You wait. You pray. You wait. You watch others being blessed. You pray. You wait. You grow soooooooooooooooo weary in your well doing. You pray. You hope. You wait. Your heart fails from the endless waiting.

Tribulation befalls us all. It hurts. That said, once we have been tried, we SHALL come forth as gold. The heat is awful. It’s terribly lonely. The hard is terribly hard to deal with. Be encouraged. All things have an end.

The trial, the hard, is NOT the point. How you come out of the hard, the trial, IS what matters. The bible says to endure hardness ‘as a good shoulder’. More and more, I am understanding what that means. What does it mean? Ah, beloveds, you have to endure to find out!

Don’t give up. Not just yet. Don’t be afraid to fail. Failing does not make you a failure. It just means you have not figured the thing out. That’s okay. You are okay. Everything else will be okay. In case no one has told you today: I love you. So does He. Be encouraged.

One step.

One step.

One step.

You are loved.

You are NOT alone.

Keep on being…YOU!

Real talk: Not in my vocabulary!

https://www.instagram.com/stories/whycantibeloud55/3448124524157612835?utm_source=ig_story_item_share&igsh=dng2cmhybXl4MXF1

I think I did it!

Yaya!

trying,

Cassandra

#YourLifeMattersToMe

Note:

One step.

One step.

One step.

You are loved.

You are NOT alone.

Keep on being…YOU!

Not in my vocabulary!

Quitting.

Not in my vocabulary!

Giving up.

Not in my vocabulary!

Walking away.

Not in my vocabulary!

Giving in to the darkness.

Not in my vocabulary!

Giving up on love.

Not in my vocabulary!

Giving up on my dreams.

Not in my vocabulary!

Giving up on my fellow man.

Not in my vocabulary!

Walking away from hard.

Not in my vocabulary!

Turning my back on me.

Not in my vocabulary!

Giving in to fear.

Not in my vocabulary!

Allowing doubt to take over.

Not in my vocabulary!

Running away from facing ME.

Not in my vocabulary!

Allowing others to run my life.

Not in my vocabulary!

Choosing to see the worst.

Not in my vocabulary!

Choosing to remain in my comfort zone(s).

Not in my vocabulary!

Nah, beloveds, we got entirely too many thangs to do than to allow anything or anyone get in our way. Including, ourselves. Especially, ourselves!

Get up!

Try.

Fail.

Laugh.

Then, get up and try, fail and laugh again.

And, again.

And, again.

Until?

Until we win!!

winning with you,

Cassandra

#YourLifeMattersToMe

Note: I have not had a paycheck since June. And, that was only a check of ONE day’s pay. That’s it.

I’m 55.

Jobless.

Alone.

Yet, not alone.

Does these ‘realities’ make me want to run for the hills? At times. Does these things make me want to doubt myself? Undoubtably. Does these things make me want to lose faith in my faith? No.

I won’t lie, beloveds. EVERYTHING was shaken after that awful tornado tore through my yard. Everything. I have never been more terrified. Never. And, I had been through Hurricane Katrina and another tornado, in the past.

I don’t know why THIS tornado was so earth-shattering, pun intended. Maybe, it’s because I faced it alone. At 55. Suddenly, my age took on a life of its own. It began to dominate everything. It made me question everything.

Can I REALLY move forward? Can I TRULY be successful. At my age?!

God keeps telling me I can do this. The Universe keeps saying I WILL do this. Life keeps shouting to me that I MUST do this.

Beloveds, I’m afraid I may not be up to the task. What if I can’t? What if I don’t? What if I do and what I have to offer is NOT enough?

Ah, there goes that word again, beloveds.

Enough. Six letters that causes the greatest anxt and heartache for ALL of us? Am I enough? Is what I have to offer ENOUGH? Can I give enough that will EVER matter to ANYONE?

Yet, the only way to find out, beloveds, is to go on ahead and to find out!

We may not be enough for some. We may be too much for others. We WILL be perfect for those The Universe has just waiting to love and care for us.

But, we are terrified of that six letter word. Enough. We soooooooooooooooooooo want to BE enough.

Why?

So, we can be CHOSEN. Ah, another word that tears at the heartstrings. Chosen.

What if no one chooses to be with me? What if the world chooses not to see me? What if my skillsets are not chosen, by a job? What if a mate refuses to choose me? What if folk won’t choose me to be a friend. What then?

Am I then, not enough? Not worthy?

It has taken God fifty years to love me enough where I could finally learn to love ME. So much so, beloveds, I am perfectly okay should I never be selected. If I am never chosen. If I am forever found wanting for the world.

Why?

Because, God loves me!

Me!

Astounding.

Amazing.

I can barely understand why. I’m loud. I’m a goof. I watch dumb things. I think stupid things. I am ridiculously hopeful. I am maddeningly stubborn in the belief we CAN! and we WILL!

Still, God whispers to me how very much I matter. Me. Not my work. Not my money. Not my try. Not my good deeds. Not my perfection.

Me. The goofy, loud, stupid, dumb, non-working me that has NO idea what to DO now. Ah, God, why won’t You just go ahead and quit me as the world so easily has done and shall continue to do?

I know I am talking to SOMEONE. Someone out there is wondering why in the fresh hell won’t God/The Universe/Life just give up on them already?! They want to throw in the towel. They want to quit. But, something just won’t turn them loose. Their dreams simply will NOT leave them alone. Life just keeps on annoying the hell out of them and telling them not to quit. Not just yet.

I’m talking to YOU, beloveds. If you are reading these words, I am speaking to YOU. I am praying for you. I am rooting for you. Don’t give up on you. Not just yet. Your life is NOT near the end. You are on the precipice of a fantastic journey.

Get ready to enjoy your life. Get out there and live. Yes, you have your stresses. So what. Toss your stresses in the shower and keep it moving! Make some coffee. Take a walk. Make a new friend. Hug a neighbor. Reconcile with family. Just DO something.

Be encouraged.

One step.

One step.

One step.

You are loved.

You are NOT alone.

Keep on being…YOU!

Don’t give up. Not just yet.

I want to give up.

Right now.

I’m tired. The roofers are roofing. The maintenance guys are maintaining. The heatwave won’t end. The bills keep piling up.

Me: I’m tired of this.

God: I know.

Me: I don’t think You are moving fast enough. Honestly, it doesn’t seem as if You are moving at all for ME.

God: I know. Will you trust me?

Me: Do I have a choice?

God: You do. I will love you however you decide.

Me: Fresh hell…K.

I am in a blaming mood. I want to blame the tornado for turning my life upside down. I want to blame my job for not caring. I want to blame friends for not caring. I want to blame me for not understanding that work and friends would not care when things got hot. I want to blame God for allowing all of this mess in the first place.

I want to lay in bed and play the blame game. Instead, I rise. I get up. I make coffee. I write. I pray. I stand fast. I choose joy. I choose to wait patiently. I don’t have the luxury of time. Life is much too short to be wasting by playing the blame game.

Today is the start of another month. I wonder what the month will bring. I am doing my best to accept whatever comes. It’s not easy. We were never promised an easy life. We can have an awesome life. It’s up to us.

We decide to love. We decide to hope. We decide to dream. We decided we quit or continue.

Be encouraged. Don’t give up. Not just yet.

asking for A Friend.

Cassandra

#YourLifeMattersToMe

Note: I honestly did not want to make my act right act right today. I want to tell my try to shut up already. I can’t. I have things to do. I’m tired of all the construction going around. I’m tired of looking at all the destruction. I’m just tired. I can’t quit. Neither can you.

It’s easy to quit when we are tired. Don’t give up. Not quite yet. You have no idea what’s beyond the next corner. Move forward. Keep looking up. It’s OK to be discouraged. Just don’t quit.

A friend told me to turn on my music and to sing real loud. I have my music on. I am singing loudly on the inside. Singing is bringing up my joy bubbles. Ah, God, where You at?

You SHALL win, beloveds, so long as you don’t quit. Don’t. Not quite yet. Your best IS still to come. It is. Ah, I know. Faith hurts when your dreams just refuse to come to you. I believe in you. God believes in you. Life believes in you. The Universe believes in you.

While we are all toiling, waiting, wondering, wishing, I gather us all and pray for faith, peace, comfort, hope, joy and special blessings whilst we continue to LIVE. Don’t spend your days surviving life. Thrive. Where you are. In the midst of hard. We got this. We truly do.

In case no no one has told you, I love you. So does He. Be well…..

One step.

One step.

One step.

You are loved.

You are NOT alone.

Keep on being…YOU!

When you are the most discouraged.

When you are the most discouraged.

Encourage.

When you are the loneliest.

Love.

When you are the angriest.

Surrender.

When you are the weariest.

Fight.

When you are the lowest.

Soar.

When are the most skeptical.

Believe.

When everything is the same old same old.

Try something different.

We determine what is and what is not. I have been missing mom. Missing family. Missing work friends. Instead of dwelling on what I am missing, I have determined to reach out and give someone what they may be missing: love, care, laughter, joy, warm thoughts…

discouraged but encouraging,

Cassandra

#YourLifeMattersToMe

Note: Nuff said.

One step.

One step.

One step.

You are loved.

You are NOT alone.

Keep on being…YOU!