Count your blessings, not your troubles.

Count your steps, not the cost.

Count the rainbows, not the raindrops.

Count the laughter, not the tears.

Count the memories, not the endings.

Count the moments, not the seconds.

Count the benefits, not the obstacles.

Count the efforts, not the outcomes.

Count it ALL joy, beloveds.

counting with you,

Cassandra

#YourLifeMattersToMe

Note: So often, beloveds, we focus on the wrong things. We stew over negatives. We count all the losses and nary a one of our successes. Enough of that!

I have spent a wonderful few hours writing, writing, writing and more writing. I didn’t give one thought to what I don’t have. Bills have taken a backseat to making my now as fantastic as I can.

I spent most of my life working myself into the ground. For what? For whom? I don’t regret working hard. I love hard work. I am just learning to prioritize taking care of me whilst I am working hard.

Life is what WE make it. Our circumstances do NOT determine our day. WE do. I am seizing THIS day. I am not wasting a moment wondering how I will make out tomorrow. Tomorrow will bring what tomorrow will bring.

I am going to take the entire month of September to do nothing but enjoy NFL, family, God, writing, snacking, sleeping, blogging. Rinse. Repeat.

I plan on spending October learning how to make inspiring videos I can put on another WordPress page requiring a subscription. My words ARE worth something. I shall see how much. Maybe, nothing will happen. Maybe, everything will happen. I shall see. I have always wanted to. I was just too afraid to bet on ME. No more. I bet on me. That will be enough, for now.

Bet on YOU, beloveds. What have you been yearning to do? What in the fresh hell are you waiting for?! Get out there and do the thing. Try. Fail. Get up and try again. You have NO idea how far you may go. Neither do I. I am excited at the prospect. In the meantime, I am enjoying being me MY way. How about you? Asking for A Friend.

One step.

One step.

One step.

You are loved.

You are NOT alone.

Keep on being…YOU!

• 📫 BE HONEST WITH THEM. FOR, ME. ❤️‍🩹Beloveds,I have been thinking about honesty.Not the kind we demand from everybody else.The kind that requires us to sit with ourselves long enough to tell the truth about what is happening inside us.👀Because sometimes the hardest person to be honest with is yourself.Sometimes we know something hurts, but we keep calling it fine.Sometimes we know we are tired, but we keep calling ourselves lazy.Sometimes we know we need help, but we keep calling needing help weakness.Sometimes we know something has changed, but we keep trying to live as though nothing did.And sometimes we are so busy trying to make everybody else comfortable with our reality that we stop being honest about our own.❤️‍🩹I have had to learn this in ways I never wanted to learn it.My life changed.My body changed.My speech changed.My independence changed.The amount of effort required to do ordinary things changed.And there have been moments when I wanted so badly to be the Cassandra I remembered that I became impatient with the Cassandra who was actually here.But she deserves honesty too.She deserves tenderness too.She deserves patience too.She deserves to be loved without having to pretend that everything is easy.🪑So I am learning to tell the truth.I can be grateful and tired.I can have faith and still have questions.I can laugh and still hurt.I can celebrate progress and grieve what changed.I can be strong and need help.I can love people and still need boundaries.I can forgive somebody and still acknowledge what happened.I can believe God is with me without pretending every part of this journey feels good.Those truths do not cancel each other.They can sit in the same room.Sometimes they can even sit in the same chair.👀🪑And maybe somebody reading this needs permission to stop performing too.You do not have to tell everybody everything.Privacy is not dishonesty.Boundaries are not dishonesty.Taking time before you speak is not dishonesty.But beloved, please find somewhere you can tell the truth.Even if the first place is inside your own heart.Say:This hurt me.I miss what was.I am angry.I am afraid.I need help.I don’t know yet.I changed my mind.I need more time.I am proud of myself.I survived something difficult.I am learning.I am healing.I am still here.🔑Because honesty can be a key.A key that unlocks shame.A key that loosens the chain of pretending.A key that lets grief breathe.A key that allows joy to be real instead of performed.A key that makes room for healing.And sometimes the truth is not:”I have figured everything out.”Sometimes the truth is simply:”I am trying.”And beloved?Trying counts.❤️‍🩹I am learning not to require perfection from myself before I offer myself compassion.I am learning not to make recovery another place where I have to perform.I am learning that one difficult day does not erase every good day that came before it.I am learning that needing rest does not erase determination.I am learning that receiving help does not erase independence.And I am learning that being honest about what hurts does not mean I have stopped believing that healing is possible.It means I stopped requiring myself to lie on the way there.👀So be honest with them when honesty is safe.Be honest with the people who love you.Be honest with the people helping you.Be honest about what you need.Be honest about what you cannot do today.Be honest about what you are learning to do again.But before all of that—Be honest with you.For me.❤️‍🩹Because I want you here.Not the polished version.Not the pretending version.Not the version exhausted from convincing everybody that everything is fine.YOU.The learning you.The healing you.The laughing you.The crying you.The figuring-it-out-as-you-go you.There is room for that person here.🪑Pull up a chair.You don’t have to resolve everything before you belong.You don’t have to perform strength before you are loved.You don’t have to have all the answers before your life matters.Your life matters right now.Exactly here.One step.One step.One step.🔑❤️‍🩹🪑Asking for A Friend,Cassandra#YourLifeMattersToMeNote: One step. One step. One step. You are loved. You are NOT alone. Keep on being…YOU!
• THE CHAIR.
• WEDNESDAY 🌎
• WEDNESDAY 🌎
• MOM, WOMBIE, LET’S LOVE THE WORLD TOGETHER. 🌎❤️‍🔥