I have found, with the trying, with the failure, with the heat, with thr lack, with the silence, that God, Life, and The Universe, were producing much more than diamonds, in my 👟 shoe.

They were revealing, with my try, the fact that I am the diamond!

I don’t NEED millions, to affect millions. ALL I need, to do is to..BE.

Wow.

Amazing.

The world, wants you to believe you need to have this, that, and the other thing, before you can be viewed as valuable. The world, wants you to waste your life chasing things instead of, pursuing your dreams.

Beloved, KNOW you are the diamond! You don’t have to be draped in diamonds, to be seen as the priceless and precious person, you are! Right now! Further more, you don’t HAVE to be all bright and shining before you are valuable.

A diamond is precious because it is hard to come by. Real diamonds, formed by pressure, deep within the earth’s surface. Formed, by heat. By relentless pressure, on top of pressure, on top of pressure.

Until, finally, the diamond emerges. Yet, the diamond is hard to get to. It takes great effort, to dig out the diamond. Yet, once free, the diamond can change the fortunes of the person who holds it.

Your life is meant to change the world. Starting, with your own. Be the diamond you are. Let your light shine. Shine! This IS your time. Use it well. Use it now. Stop letting folks use you.

You don’t have to, beg to be loved. You don’t have to, buy you love. You don’t have to, keep giving everything, while hoping, you’ll receive a small scrap, in return. Your life is a diamond. You are the diamond.

Keep on, being you. Look, around you. Look, at the impact you have made on your family, friends, and community. Folk’s lives would not be the same, without you in it.

As we finish out the last of this year, think about what you want your life to look like moving forward. What do you want to be doing? What would you like to go? Then, start making plans to do that and to go there.

In the meantime, enjoy where you are, right now. Enjoy, your life. Enjoy, your family. Enjoy, your friends. Make friends, if you don’t have any.

Write, the book. Sing, the song. Ask, someone out. Go, to a show. Take, a walk. Apply, for the job you want. Start, a blog. Create, a podcast. Ask, for help. Help, somebody.

Life is short. What are you waiting for? Life has been waiting for you. Get out there to meet it. You can do it. You will do it. How do I know? Because God says you can and that you will.

My life is full. I have a few friends I can trust with my life. I have a twin sister that makes me laugh every day. I have brothers and sisters I can call and laugh with and be serious with anytime. I have a job that makes me laugh every day.

Mostly, I have an awesome relationship with God. Fantastic. How great is that!? He is My Diamond. Priceless. Precious.

Be encouraged, beloved. Keep on believing in yourself. Don’t worry about how long it would take. The thing that matters take a long time to create. Enjoy the journey. Enjoy making mistakes.

I hear another cup of coffee calling me. I fear I am going to have to kick you all to the curb. Be well.

Shining my life as the diamond I am,

Cassandra

Note: I do want to take a moment, beloveds, to let you know you are on my mind today. Be sure to do a heart check on yourself. Be sure to love on you today. Be sure to do something special for yourself. Stop listening to nonsense that says it is selfish to take care of yourself. You can’t give what you don’t have. Someone needs to hear your voice today. As always, I will keep you lift up in prayer. Don’t let people tell you prayer does not change things. They do.

I’ve been fighting discouragement, for the past week or so. Everything, I have tried here lately, has failed. Everything. My work system, is still acting up. My equipment, is old and not working right. My health, is not the greatest in the world. Yet, I have great peace and joy. Life, is good. Even, when it’s hard. Especially, when it’s hard. These hard days, have been some of my best days.

I am listening to Stevie Wonder’s ‘Isn’t She Lovely?’ Yes, I am soooooooo lovely!! So, are you. Keep being lovely. Keep on being you. Understand you are NOT what you do, what you have or where you live.

You are a million facets of all kinds of things. Let life’s pressure continue to form the diamond you are. The pressure is not there to break you. The pressure is simply bringing out the best IN you. The rest, as they say, shall come out, in the wash.

Be encouraged.

Be hopeful.

Be joyful.

Be!

Do your best and leave the outcome where it belongs. NOT with you!

Sheesh! Didn’t I say I have a cup of coffee waiting on me? Kick rocks. Gently, of course…lol…

• SUNDAY WITH CASSANDRA. IT ME!
• MOVIE SATURDAY WITH CASSANDRA🌎🎬👩🏿‍🦼🍿🌎
• (no title)
• Today…
• 🎬 MAYBE THEY WEREN’T “TOO BLACK.” MAYBE I WAS STILL HOLDING THE RULER. 🪑🔑Beloveds,I told you I caught myself watching Black romance movies and thinking:Too loud.Too boisterous.Too Black.😳And the Holy Spirit convicted me.Then I watched Deliver Us from Eva.WHEW.👀Because suddenly I wasn’t only watching Eva.I was looking at the ruler I sometimes used to measure everybody.Let’s start with Eva.She’s intelligent, professional, beautiful, protective, loving, bossy, controlling, loyal and complicated.All of it.🔑She doesn’t have to become either the Angry Black Woman Who Needs Taming or the Strong Black Woman Whose Every Choice Must Be Defended.Eva needs correction AND Eva deserves dignity.She helped raise her sisters after their parents died. Protection became part of her identity.But eventually protection sometimes became control.⛓️ If I don’t manage everybody, everything will fall apart.🔑 I can love grown people without controlling grown people.Her sisters need a key too.You cannot keep handing somebody the clipboard to your life and then get mad because she keeps writing on it.🤣Eva has to stop managing.Her sisters have to start owning.Everybody gets a chair.🪑And YES—THE MEN TOO.🤣🪑🪑🪑🪑Ray begins by deceiving Eva.That matters.But eventually “the problem” becomes a person to him.Eva.And Ray changes.🔑 Sometimes genuinely knowing somebody destroys the caricature we created from a distance.But Ray deserves his own humanity too.He’s working, dreaming, saving, flawed, funny, romantic, masculine and tender.He doesn’t need to become a CEO before he’s worthy of love.There’s that ten-times-better ruler again.👀Then Mike.Mike has a legitimate frustration with Eva’s interference.His solution?SIR. SIT DOWN.🪑🤣Because here’s another key:🔑 A legitimate grievance does not automatically make every remedy legitimate.Pain deserves acknowledgment.Choices still require accountability.Then Tim made me ask:What does a Black man have to look like before we consider him “man enough”?Dominant?Always in charge?Never soft?Never uncertain?Why?Tim doesn’t need more masculinity.He needs his voice.🔑A loud Black woman shouldn’t have to shrink.A quieter Black man shouldn’t have to perform dominance.Both get chairs.And Darrell?🤣Some people are intellectual heavyweights.And some people are…Darrell.🤣❤️HE GETS A CHAIR TOO.Intelligence isn’t the admission price for dignity.Sophistication isn’t the admission price for love.Black people are allowed to be ordinary.Goofy.Messy.Wrong.Funny.Tender.Brilliant.Ridiculous.Rich.Poor.Loud.Quiet.Human.And suddenly the Holy Spirit’s conviction went deeper.Maybe I had become nervous when Black characters weren’t representing us “well enough.”What will THEY think?Why are they so loud?Why aren’t they more polished?More educated?More professional?More respectable?More…acceptable?😳And suddenly I’m not watching a movie.I’m conducting a performance review of Blackness.⛓️That’s exhausting.Because Black characters should not have to carry the reputation of an entire people on their backs.And sometimes, without realizing it—we help load the backpack.That was part of what the Holy Spirit showed me.Not merely:Cassandra, look at them.But:Cassandra, look at your ruler.👀Who handed it to you?Why are you still carrying it?And I knew part of the answer.Ten times better.There was love and survival inside what Black folk taught me.They were preparing me for an unfair world.But:“You may have to be ten times better to receive the opportunity”can quietly become:“Black people SHOULD be ten times better.”NO.❤️‍🩹I reject that.Black excellence is beautiful.Black dignity is unconditional.Eva gets correction and dignity.Ray gets tenderness and accountability.Mike gets frustration and responsibility.Tim gets quietness and voice.Darrell gets goofiness and dignity.The sisters get love and agency.Nobody has to become less Black.Nobody has to become ten times more human.EVERYBODY GETS A CHAIR.🪑🪑🪑🪑🪑🪑🪑And maybe that’s what the Holy Spirit was really asking me:Cassandra, why are you still holding the ruler?😳My answer?I’m learning to put it down.🔑And maybe you have one too.Race.Education.Disability.Age.Money.Accent.Religion.Politics.Body size.Mental illness.Addiction.Sexuality.Somebody whose life simply doesn’t look like yours.Don’t perform an answer for me.Be honest with you. For, HIM.🙏🏿What ruler are you carrying?Who handed it to you?Who have you measured with it?Have you measured yourself with it too?And if the Holy Spirit is showing it to you, maybe He isn’t giving you the ruler so you can beat yourself with it.Maybe He’s saying:Child. You don’t need that anymore.Put it down.🔑❤️‍🩹Pull up your chair.🪑Let somebody else pull up theirs.And let people be fully human in front of you.Including—you.👩🏿‍🦼💃🏿❤️‍🔥🌎Asking for A Friend,Cassandra#YourLifeMattersToMeNote: One step. One step. One step. You are loved. You are NOT alone. Keep on being…YOU!Unapologetically His.Unapologetically yours.