Category: Inspiration

Take a moment to touch a heart.

Take a moment to touch a heart.

Take a moment to touch a soul.

Take a moment to touch a spirit.

Starting with your own, beloveds. These have been some dark years for us all. The pandemic shut us in and shut us down.

Politics seem to be tearing us all apart. Or trying to.

Financial hardships are tearing away at our confidence. In ourselves. In our institutions. In our governments.

Yet, WE, each of us, make up our world. WE, each of us can:

Lighten a load.

Lend a hand.

Love someone.

Life is short. Take a moment. Take the time. Take the lead.

asking for A Friend,

Cassandra

#YourLifeMattersToMe

Note: I was feeling super unnecessary. I lamented on my lack of finances. Then, I reminded myself I have plenty of love I can give. I shall give it all away. Be sure to take an extra helping eh? Be encouraged.

One step.

One step.

One step.

You are loved.

You are NOT alone.

Keep on being…YOU!

Make disappointment your best friend.

There has been some mighty disappointing days in this year.

So much so, beloveds, I have made disappointment a friend. A friend who brings me fresh ideas and new opportunities to stand on FAITH.

I don’t enjoy disappointment. I find disappointment terribly discouraging and disappointing.

Keeping my promise to myself to use EVERYTHING for my good, I have had to be creative with feelings of disappointment.

I rename things. I reclaim ownership of other things. I ponder why. I wonder what comes next.

I dismiss thoughts of quitting. I laugh at suggestions to walk away.

I try something. Then, I try something else.

I am relentless. I am reluctant.

I am bold. I am hesitant.

I burst forward. I scurry back.

All the while, disappointment shows herself to be a considerate friend. She is consistent. She does not demand to be tended to. She waits patiently for ME to act. Or not.

What’s that? Disappointment has come calling through my empty mailbox. I was waiting on two much needed checks. Fresh hell.

I have to go tend to disappointment. If I don’t, she will make way for fear and doubt to come in. I have too many thangs to do to allow that to happen.

Be encouraged.

asking for A Friend,
Cassandra

#YourLifeMattersToMe

Note: When you figure out what to DO with disappointment, please let me know.

One step.

One step.

One step.

You are loved.

You are NOT alone.

Keep on being…YOU!

What do you do when life happens at the worst time?

What do you do when life happens at the worst time?

I’ve been asking myself that question for the last 6 months. I have been trying to figure out the answer for the last 6 months. This is the absolute worst time to be trying to find a job. This could not be a worst time to be 56 without a job. The tornado could not have picked the worst time to have happened.

Now I am left with trying to figure things out. in real time. Having been left with nothing, I have to do the best I can with what I have left. which has been a whole lot of nothing. Go figure.

It’s hard to learn a lesson when you’re trying to figure out how to keep the lights on. It’s not easy remaining calm when disaster seems near.

Living in the meantime can be awfully difficult when in the meantime, life is especially troublesome and tiring. The fairy tales don’t tell you what to do after the credits stops rolling.

These times are here for a reason. It’s up to me to work to find out what those reasons are. I wish I could tell reason to kiss my uh oh. I can’t. I have to be the mature 56 year old I am. Yikes.

I’m trying my utmost not to be angry about having to start over at 56 in this manner. I could have done this easily 30 years ago. Youth would have been on my side. Now I have an old body and a tired mind.

The news is full of nothing but gloom and doom. I refuse to see it with my fear. I pour the oxygen of praise, love and joy over the sad tidings. I find that 56 is a valiant warrior. She refused to give up. She laughs at hard. 56 is an encourager. She tells me to keep going. She tells me that everything truly will work out. She tells me that everything will come out in a wash. I am beginning to enjoy 56.

56 is relentless. Maybe she recognizes how truly short life is. I’m doing the best I can with the days I have. I have to. So do you. There’s too much left unfinished.

I still don’t know how to quite answer. What do you do when life happens at the worst time? I’m still figuring that out in real time. I’ll let you know on the other side. There will be another side for me. I will make it there. as will you.

In the meantime, keep doing the best you can. For as long as you can. Rest, then begin again.

asking for A Friend,
Cassandra

#YourLifeMattersToMe

Note: God has never lost a battle. He never will. Be encouraged.

One step.

One step.

One step.

You are loved.

You are NOT alone.

Keep on being…YOU!

We are worth the good soup.

Sis wanted to get me some groceries. She wanted to get me the “good” soup. Meaning, the expensive soup. Two bucks plus per 🥫😲…*gasp*.

Growing up, we were never able to afford the “good” stuff. We “made do”. We scripted. We scrounged.

I learned to “make due” with every area of my life. I scrounged. I scrimped. I dared not ask anything for me. Things of value, anyway.

Doing this, I guess I taught myself to devalue ME. I didn’t understand mom was just making sure things lasted. The lesson I learned was that I was something that had to be managed. Barely.

That wasn’t mom’s fault. It was my child-like knowledge I turned into grown-up fear.

These months are teaching me how valuable Cassandra is apart from her effort. I’m worth a lot.

I think I shall let sis get me the good soup. I am worth it. I am worthy. I am worthwhile.

So are YOU, beloveds. Be sure to let yourself have some of the good things of life. You are priceless. You are worth all that life has in store for you. Be encouraged.

asking for A Friend,
Cassandra

#YourLifeMattersToMe

Note: This piece was hard to right. I’m sad and how long it took for me to see my value and worth. Thank goodness God was sooooooooo persistent and relentless in loving me.

One step.

One step.

One step.

You are loved.

You are NOT alone.

Keep on being…YOU!

Eyoww!😳

Eyoww!😳

Hard:

Life has been living! Eyoww!

The bills won’t stop. The month is running out. My want to has not always wanted to.

My want to:

EVERY day, I drag want to out of bed…

Hard has been forcing me to DO SOMETHING, CASSANDRA!

The more I DO SOMETHING, the less large fear looms. In fact, fear gets embarrassed when I DO SOMETHING.  Fear doesn’t know what to do, when WE do something to combat fear.

Ah.

Aha!

Just this morning, beloveds, fear told me to stop writing. Doubt chimed in and said nobody cares about you or your thoughts. Reality insisted I will NEVER see my dreams in real time.

Ha, I replied!

I appreciate hard, now. I don’t care for it being so bloody hard. I understand why, now.

Don’t be discouraged when hard gets so damned hard, beloveds. These times are simply opportunities to activate and utilize your faith. Period.

We all believe in something. Hard times simply show us what we are actually standing on.

Keep on believing in your try. Your try WILL result in a wonderfully, delicious life.

In the meantime, try not to focus so much on the hard of things. Enjoy your day. Hard is going to be hard. So what? You have thangs to do.

Tell reality to kick rocks when it reminds you of your age and limitations. We CAN. We WILL.

asking for A Friend,
Cassandra

#YourLifeMattersToMe

Note: I REFUSE to allow hard to keep me from trying. I got thangs to do. Don’t you dare let your hard keep you from LIVING!

One step.

One step.

One step.

You are loved.

You are NOT alone.

Keep on being…YOU!

Real talk: House cleaning.

I have had to clean house this year. I have had to clean up many a mess due to some internal stinking thinking.

I didn’t believe in myself, like I could have. In turn, I failed to fight for myself, as I would have.

Just now, I took out the trash. It has been terribly cold these last weeks. So much so I have absolutely DREADED taking out the trash.

Today, I told lazy to stop being lazy. The sun was stunning. She brilliantly showed off her sparkles for all who were smart enough to get outside.

Taking out the trash gave me the energy to do more. Okay, it didn’t. I made myself get on with the business of LIVING.

Fear, of the future, can keep us from living, in the present.

Be sure to get out of your fears, beloveds, and into your brilliant future.

Folk all over the world have been bemoaning the state of the world. To hear folk tell it, we may as well just pack up, not care, and kick a pet or two on the way out. Hooey on that!

Real talk, beloveds, we HAVE to keep up with our internal housekeeping. If not, we shall find ourselves too easily swayed and dismayed by lies and disinformation.

ENJOY your today. It’s the only you get. Hopefully, another today will be tacked on to this one!

asking for A Friend,
Cassandra

#YourLifeMattersToMe

Note: Okay, um, like you are supposed to be doing chores. What are you still doing here?😁🥰🤣❤🙏

One step.

One step.

One step.

You are loved.

You are NOT alone.

Keep on being…YOU!

Yes!

Yes, you CAN.

Yes, you WILL.

Any other questions?

asking for A Friend,
Cassandra

#YourLifeMattersToMe

Note: Now that you KNOW you CAN and you WILL, what in the heckamiah Jeremiah are you waiting for?! Get going. You have too many thangs to do.

One step.

One step.

One step.

You are loved.

You are NOT alone.

Keep on being…YOU!

Disappointment: Tearing down walls of my own making.

Ow.

Ow!

OWWWW!!!

Disappointment has kicked my tail this year.

Apparently, disappointment has had nothing better to do than to mock me relentlessly.

In my disappointment, I found myself rushing to God to hold up the latest pile of what in the fresh hell is THIS?!

Then, all God has done is told me to take it up with The Universe.

So, I scoop up all THAT disappointment, and rush off to confront The Universe.

Then, The Universe shrugs and tells me to take it up with Life.

Sooooooooooo, I scoop up the now THIS pile of disappointment, and confront life about presenting me with so much THIS and THAT.

Life simply smiles and reminds me I am learning HOW to make mishmash.

How can I argue with that?

In fighting disappointment, I am learning to fight FOR me, not against my current circumstances.

Things change. The only thing consistent is change. I am forcing myself to learn how to graciously accept the change.

Yes, I will continue to try. Yes, I will change what I can/must. Still, I will be good to me until the change comes.

Whatever your circumstances, beloveds, try not to allow disappointment to grow bitter walls within you. Stay open. Tear down your defensive walls.

Allow light to come in. Breathe joy in there.

Whatever you choose, be sure to take a bunch of love to disperse wherever you go.

asking for A Friend,
Cassandra

#YourLifeMattersToMe

Note:

One step.

One step.

One step.

You are loved.

You are NOT alone.

Keep on being…YOU!

All you have to do to stand out is to stand up.

All you have to do to stand out is to stand up.

All you have to do to show out is to show up.

All you have to do to meet the challenge is to meet the need.

Stand up!

Show up!

Meet the need!

The world is in desperate need of folk who will get out there and love it. Warts and all. Faults and all. Misdeeds and all.

Lately, folk have been urging black women to boycott and not work for or shop in corporations that don’t/won’t value us.

I choose the bigger fight. I choose to love. Period. In whatever setting I find myself in. The world will do what it does. I CHOOSE not to respond in kind.

I will:

Stand up!

Show up!

Meet the need!

Can a sista get some help here?

asking for A Friend,

Cassandra

#YourLifeMattersToMe

Note: Apathy is for the lazy. Hate is for the misinformed. Gloom and doom is for the haters.

Let’s go, beloveds. We got thangs to do.

One step.

One step.

One step.

You are loved.

You are NOT alone.

Keep on being…YOU!

Mishmash II

My latest mishmash turned out to be hogwash! Bah humbug.

Instead of wasting a pound of ground beef and pasta, I decided to “reimagine” my mishmash.

I added a bit of this.

I tossed in a bit of that.

I let this and that simmer…

Presto!

Mishmash II. Tadah!

These days, beloveds, I feel as though ALL I am doing is concocting nothing but mishmash: A dash of this. A bit of that. Leaving nothing but a bunch of mishmash.

I want to be angry. I’m much too tired to be angry. I want to bargain with The Universe to let me go back to BEFORE.

Before, things got so hard.

Before, I became another person.

Before, I forgot what it’s like to feel safe.

We don’t get to go back, beloveds. We get to move FORWARD. Keep moving FORWARD. Don’t let the unknown scare you into looking back.

We can’t get THAT back. We can’t ever do THIS again. Yet, too often, we find ourselves wasting time chasing after THIS and THAT.

It’s time to move beyond THIS. It’s high time to seek higher than THAT.

I love talking about THIS and THAT. Only those who are truly trying will even understand what I am saying. Everyone else is wondering “What’s all THIS? What’s up with THAT?”…lol.

Don’t be discouraged/disappointed with your try, beloveds. You tried. You made mishmash out of the leftovers of your life. Most folk just complain about what they have been left with.

Celebrate your mishmash. Or, turn the mishmash into mishmash II!

asking for A Friend,
Cassandra

#YourLifeMattersToMe

Note: Stop giving yourself such a hard time. You are doing amazing. The results have not yet shown themselves to you. Be patient. In the meantime, help someone else. Cheer on others. Love someone. Starting with you.

One step.

One step.

One step.

You are loved.

You are NOT alone.

Keep on being…YOU!