Believe in YOU.

Believe.

In YOU, beloveds.

This world would have you believe you have to have this, have to have done that, to be of any use or worth.

This is simply not the case.

YOU are:

One of a kind.

You are not simply one, of many. You are one, among many, diamonds.

A masterpiece.

It has been said that beauty lies within the eye of the beholder. You are beautiful.

Believe in YOU.

In your gifts and in your talents.

The only one you need to be clout chasing is you.

Your life is NOT an Instagram or TikTok page. This is your life. Live it. For YOU. Recently, I came across a YouTuber who was in tears because her TikTok page had been deactivated. She said this made her worthless. She said she was nothing without her page.

I shall continue to remind folk how very much they are loved and not alone.

Life is much too short for you to continue your downward gaze. Look up. Look up!!

You have all you need, beloveds, ALREADY.

You don’t need more money, more prestige, more clout to live an abundant life.

Life is short. Stop selling yourself short and believe you can and WILL have some joyous moments. How do I know? Because it’s up to you…*shrug*.

Okay, so what the world are you still doing here? Get going.

believing in me,

Cassandra

#YourLifeMattersToMe

Note: Time waits for no one. Best get to using what time you have. The world has been waiting on you and your dream. Perhaps, YOU are the last piece I need to fulfill my dreams. What a thought! Hurry, yall. We have a wondrous life to live…

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 πŸ₯‡ 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 πŸ† 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?!😳πŸ₯°

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!πŸ˜³πŸ€—πŸ₯°

Who knew?!πŸ₯°πŸ€—

How deliciously fantastic to listen at these folks commiserating about MY football. πŸ˜‚

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, πŸ‰ 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!!!!πŸ€—πŸˆπŸ’ƒπŸ‘Œ

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.πŸ˜‚πŸ₯°

I got my love of sports from my mom. She loved sports. 🏈 Football. Basketball πŸ€. β›³ Golf. Nascar. You name it. She loved hollering at the television about them.

Over time, I, too, joined her in yelling at said πŸ“Ί 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 πŸ“Ί 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 πŸ“Ί. I shout to heaven:

Me: Did you SEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE that mom!😳🏈πŸ₯°β€οΈπŸ˜†

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…πŸ˜‚

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!

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!

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!

Fear, the ONLY thing I am losing is you!

Kick rocks, fear!

I am tired of you trying to scare the bejeez out of me with your threats and lies.

Fear, the ONLY thing I am going to be losing is YOU!

Get gone!

You will NOT, fear, cause me to fear.

No way.

No how.

I don’t care what things currently look like. I KNOW all things work for my good. I KNOW I am loved and am NOT alone. I KNOW my efforts are NOT in vain.

Be off with you, fear!

I shall NOT allow you to have me all up in my feels. You can both take two seats.

Ha!

ALL you are doing, fear, is helping me to strengthen my faith muscles. That’s ALL you are doing. ALL I am allowing you to do in and for me, fear.

I run my life.

I CHOOSE.

I believe.

I have faith.

I rejoice.

I embrace what happens in and for my life.

Go way from me, fear.

I ain’t worried about you.

laughing through it all,

Cassandra

#YourLifeMattersToMe

Note: Do NOT allow fear to scare the bejeez out of you. Tell fear to stop lying to you and to kick some rocks. You do NOT have to live a life limited by fear and doubt. Be encouraged. Keep moving forward. Though the steps may seem small and slow, your steps are producing much.

One step.

One step.

One step.

You are loved.

You are NOT alone.

Keep on being…YOU!