A friend recommended a new type of coffee creamer.

It sounded gross.

I tell myself I will try it.

I am learning to try new things.

Ewwwwwwwwww!

I absolutely HATED it.

I pouted as I paid a million dollars for it. Okay, it was close to four bucks but now I have a 50 gallon monstrosity of nastiness in my fridge who is demanding I finish since I had already paid for it.

In the past, I would have toughed it out because I had already paid the 4 bucks. Yep, beloveds, I would have inflicted weeks of pain/agony from messing up perfect cups of coffee adding nastiness just because I had ‘paid’ for the horrifying coffee crime sitting in my refrigerator. Smh. Don’t judge me. I am learning…lol.

I don’t know why us humans do super dumb things like staying in relationships, jobs, situations that do not serve us simply because we have been there ‘too long’. How long must we put ourselves through torment, er, foolishness because we had been with this person or that job forever?

There is a time and purpose for everything. You may have outgrown friendship from 30 years ago! You and the person may have grown in different directions. There is nothing wrong with missing folk well and growing in a larger/different pot.

Now, I am NOT saying leave a marriage/relationship you think has ‘grown stale’. Could it be YOU the one who is stale? Refresh the relationship. Talk to your other half. Grow together. Love each other and keep it meaning.

I am talking about a job you KNOW you have never cared for but have not taken the courage to look for something new, get the new job, THEN say goodbye to the one that is holding you back.

Please, please, please don’t blow up your life because you are feeling out of sorts.

Oftentimes, God and The Universe are trying to upset your apple cart so you can start asking questions to determine your why and get to doing YOUR why.

Be open to new things.

Just know you don’t HAVE to force down something not to your liking. Just because someone else believes something, find out for YOU if you agree/disagree. Then, keep caring for them and keep it moving. Disagreement does not mean the opposite side is your enemy. Just means you don’t like their coffee creamer. Eww!…lol

trying new things/sticking with my creamer,

Cassandra

#YourLifeMattersToMe

Note: Be encouraged. Remember your thoughts/opinions matter. Don’t follow like the rest of the world seems to be angry about this, mad about that. Half the time I don’t think most folks even know what they have decided to be mad about. They have just seen a bunch of folks up in arms and began to yell and scream as well. SMH.

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. 🌎❤️‍🔥

It’s important to guard your why.

Why?

If you don’t, you may find yourself pursuing the whys of the world. You end up hopelessly chasing likes, subscriptions, joiners and all manner of things.

You will find yourself wondering why you are doing what you are doing.

YOUR why is important.

Why?

Because, the world needs YOU. The AUTHENTIC you. Not the contrived you folks try to get you to be to suit THEIR agenda and needs.

Be YOU.

Just you.

Pursue YOUR why.

Why?

Your why will grow discouraged waiting for you to get back to it, that’s why!..lol.

Life is short.

Guard your why, beloveds.

Your peace is contained in your why.

Your joy is hopelessly tied up in your why.

Heckamia, the key to MY dreams may be hopeless tied up in your why!

Be encouraged, beloveds. Take heart. I have seen tons of folks, here lately, who are quitting their YouTube channels etc because of burnout, feeling like imposter(s) due to feeling as though they have had to pretend they were something they were not, thinking they had to lie and pretend they were ‘more successful’ so they could be in the orbit of other folk they feel are ‘more successful’.

Remember, beloveds, you are soooooooooooooooooooo much more than what you do, what you have, what you wear, who you know, who does not know you.

Why?

Because, you are loved and you are NOT alone, that’s why!

It’s crucial you guard your why and enjoy your life whilst being, doing and pursuing your why. The rest will come out in the wash.

#YourLife MattersToMe

Note: Why are you doing what you are currently doing? Why are you not pursuing that which you have desired to do? Answer yourself then get on with your why.

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. 🌎❤️‍🔥