Run towards, not away, from.

Run towards, not away, from, your dream.

Run towards, not away, from, love.

Run towards, not away, from, anticipation.

Running towards, is exhausting. It takes all you got. Then you have GOT to give more.

Running towards, is hard. It requires getting after it long after you get up and go has gone up and quit.

Running towards, is exhilarating. Like Forrest Gump reminds, it’s like a box of chocolate. You just never know what you are gonna get.

So, get a goin’, beloveds.

Run.

RUN!

Your dreams are waiting for you to catch up.

Hurry up, now.

NOW!

Life ain’t waiting on any of us.

Strive.

Hard.

Whew.

You got this!

Almost there.

Stretch.

Reach out!!

Keep going!

Keep going!!!!

Can’t you see?!

Right THERE.

It’s over there, beloveds!

Where?

Great question.

Keep running…

running with you,

Cassandra

#YourLifeMattersToMe

Wombie.

*sigh*

Nuff said.

Me

Note: Some days, only a wombie can understand a sigh…*sigh*.

I love you, wombie. More than you will ever know.

#YourLIfeMattersToMe

Mom days.

Mom.

Mom.

Mom.

Nuff said.😥

Cassandra #YourLifeMattersToMe

Note: Some days, only the sound of your mom’s voice will help. Today, is just one of those days. Crap. Miss you mom…

Keep going…

Don’t be afraid to say you are afraid.

I’m afraid.

Afraid I will never be, all God and Life hopes, I shall be.

I’m afraid.

Afraid, I will never be, all I hope, I shall be.

I’m afraid.

Afraid, I will never be.

Ah.

Aha!

I’m afraid, I shall NEVER be afraid to admit to having been afraid.

Alas, fear does NOT rule me, I’m afraid.

No, fear shall NEVER have me, I fear.

Shall I fear?

Afraid not.

Will I give up?

I fear not.

Must not I fear the world’s scorn at my fear?

‘Fraid not.

For, I am loved.

Just as I am.

This is enough.

I am no longer afraid.

I am no longer to say, outloud, when I am afraid.

I fear I may have chased off fear.

Too bad.

I shant miss you, fear.

free,

Cassandra

#YourLifeMattersToMe

Note: Don’t be too hard on you, beloveds. All of us have things that go bump in the night.

Memorial Day: The boogie man hides in holidays.

Yikes!

I found myself soooooooooooooooo out of sorts, today. Work stuff. Life stuff. Work tech stuff. Life acting a fool stuff.

It started out with me scaring the hooey out of myself, for a few minutes, after checking my bank account. After I came to, I got some act right and rushed to get in The Father’s Lap and let Him know I was scared. Briefly. Loudly. For quite a few minutes. Then, I called sis in the middle of the night and eventually shared my scare with her.

Then, tried to log onto work and my work station asked me what the fuss was all about so had to fight with it to get working.

THEN, whilst fighting with my workstation, my main overhead workstation light chose the moment to go out. Poof. Leaving the room, leaving me, in partial darkness, worn out, exhausted from having been scared half to death by the boogie man, content after having booted said boogie man from the room, and got things going.

Things got going. Workstation got to working. Folks got to yakking, remotely, sharing all of their Memorial Day plans. It was enjoyable hearing about mom’s doing this with daughters. I laughed hearing daughters talking about and rolling their eyes at their mom’s outlandish life requests.

Then, ah, beloveds, the boogie man showed up. Right there. THERE amongst the laughs and holiday mom photos. he laughed at my lonely. he taunted me I would ALWAYS be here, alone, incessantly yakking at folks to love loved ones still here. All the while being alone, still. Still. Still, waiting.

I snatched the boogie man, from amidst the laughter and smiles and told him to go on ahead and take two seats. Then, I went back to cutting up with coworkers blessed to have mom, still. Dad, still. Me, to laugh with, still.

Now?

I am shaken. Not stirred. I grilled some deliciously delicious top sirloin and made sandwiches. I am going to reheat my coffee and spend the evening bingewatching movies with mom. Yes, I have to lover her a new way but we still love one another. Just from much farther away. Ah, beloveds, she’s super far away, today. Here, in the silence. Miss you mom.

Enjoy your life. Tell the boogie man to kick rocks and take two seats. Then:

Live.

Love.

Laugh.

You got this. God has us all.

For those who are alone, for whatever the reason, know you are NOT alone and you are loved. You are.

His and yours,

Cassandra

#YourLifeMattersToMe

Landmines: When the boogie man shows up.

Life can appear to be super scary.

Especially when the boogie man arrives, disguised as circumstances and scares the hell out of us with his tales of imminent disaster and destruction.

Yea, boooooooooooooooy, the boogie man can be absolutely terrifying, seemingly so, whispering talkes of woe and cackling to watch out for the landmines!

BOOM.

BOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOM!!

Stomping about, the boogie man can be found hooting and hollering and high fiving fear, anxiety, doubt and ALL of their friends.

Whooping and laughing it up, they dance around whilst waving bills, inflation, lonely, loneliness, relationships, failed relationships, deals, failed deals, unfulfilled dreams, unasked for trauma and circumstances.

We can manuever, deftly, amongst these things when we are not tired. When life is not already beating us about this and kicking our tails about that. We can throw haymakers if we don’t also have to deal with all we already have to exhaustively deal with on the daily.

So, when the boogie man shows up, scaring the holy bejeez out of us, with landmines buried on God knows where….??

Huh.

Hmmm…

Only God knows where…..ah.

Aha!

*Cassandra tells the boogie man to go on ahead and take two seats. She trusts God. HE KNOWS where ALL the landmines are. HE protects. HE guides. HE provides. HE loves. HE is Faithful. HE is Relentless. HE is Forgiving. HE safeguards. HE blesses. HE hugs. HE lives. HE saves. HE adds to. HE takes away. HE allows. HE…..hehe….Cassandra lays down, in the boat, whilst the storm rages, lays her head on an already asleep Jesus who KNOWS all SHALL make it to the other side.*

resting after removing the boogie man from the room,

Cassandra

#YourLifeMattersToMe

Note: It’s okay to have been scared by the boogie man, beloveds. Circumstances, if we let them, can be enough to turn your hair white almost instantaneously. The trick is to go get Your Dad, when the bully shows up. You don’t have to fear or fight the bully, alone. You are NOT alone. You are loved. Be encouraged. Don’t be so hard on yourselves when you fall flat on your face. Don’t give it much thought when your act right is acting up a bit, still. Change/growth takes time. Sometimes, it takes a lot of time. That’s okay. It took you a lifetime to screw up so spectacularly. Admirable, don’t you think, how wonderfully we can wreck a thing. All on our own. Yet, God and Life loves us, will help us, will guide us, will be with us THROUGH the light, in the dark. Where ever we find ourselves, we got this. God has us all. How much safer/loved can we be?

Have an awesome weekend.

Granny panties: Life AFTER aftershocks.

I’m super excited. My new undies came!! I can’t wait until it is time to shower. So, I can don my super cute, now fitting, undies….*hugs self*.

Life goes on. After the after affects of being affected by tough circumstances. Whether those circumstances were aided by you, perpetrated upon you, or a combination of both..*shrug*.

Things happen.

Life happens.

Sometimes WE happen to our lives.

Enough, already, beating yourself up about things you can do nothing about now. You said something. You did something. You didn’t say something. You didn’t do something. Now, the after affects are affecting things and you.

Nothing you can do now, beloveds, but love yourself, forgive yourself, and keep it moving. The thing has been done. The relationship lost/damaged. What you can fix, fix. As for the rest, do the best you can to restore. What can’t be restored, grieve, say goodbye and keep it moving. Honor your TRY. You did the best you could with what information you had, at the time.

Or, you couldn’t do, you couldn’t try because you were just too hurt, too afraid, too angry, too anxious, too this, or too that.

Too bad!

Be done with it, beloveds.

Done with bashing yourself for things and times that can never be recovered. There IS life after the after affect, after shock. An abundant life. A joyful life. A fulfilling life.

Say.

Live.

Love.

Life goes on.

Go on with it.

going with you,

Cassandra

#YourLifeMattersToMe

Granny panties: After affects(shocks).

I can not begin to express my:

Shock.

Dismay.

Horror.

When reaching into my perfectly folded, er, tossed in the hamper, though, perfectly laundered, laundry. Only, to come away with……

Granny panties!

*Screams of horror could be heard the world over by EVERY woman alive, dead or otherwise,*

The after affects, the after shock, of what happened after comforting eating my way through the months leading up to Mother’s Day. I had been doing well. Or, so I thought. I was eating healthy. I was cooking. I was being about being about it.

Yet, slowly, I found myself slowly retreating. From, life. From, others. Just a tad. Not enough where it was noticeable. Much.

After a while, I realized my heart had been hiding, somewhere, deep inside. I cajoled her to come on out. I talked to her. She talked to me. I shared her with family. We shared memories of mom, of a motherless Mother’s Day and had a really nice motherless Mother’s Day.

Now, I am dealing with the aftermath of the aftershocks:

Granny panties….Yikes!

I have learned, though, to not get down on myself. Life hit me hard. That’s okay. I wasn’t okay, for a bit. That’s okay. I hid. That’s okay. I came back out. That’s okay. I have to buy new undies. That’s okay.

It’s important to not judge yourself too harshly, beloveds, when you find you have stretched yourself in ways not quite helpful. All you can do is to get back to your TRY. As best you can. Forgive yourself and keep it moving. Buy some new undies and get back to living and enjoying your life.

enjoying life with you with my new undies,

Cassandra

#YourLifeMattersMe

Note: Be encouraged. After affects are just a part of living, of growing. Keep on being you. Don’t punish yourself by making yourself wear granny panties that no longer fit. I have lost some pounds and those babies were hanging every which way…..hahahahahahahaha!! I love you. Love yourself, would you please?

Oh, My God.

Oh, my God?!

Whew!

My thought as I checked my now non existent checking account.

Recounting ALL the ways God has blessed and taken cared of me I thought…

O, My God.

Ah.

Aha!

*Knowing God was Her Provider, Cassandra trusted and went back to sleep*

trusting Him,

Cassandra

#YourLifeMattersToMe

Note: Do NOT allow fear to scare you half to death, when it comes to your finances and your provisions. God WILL make the way. In the meantime, beloveds, enjoy this day. Enjoy, each moment. Even the hard. The hard keeps you limber and trusting in what you can not yet see. Keep going. It will be worth it in the end. Be encouraged.

Don’t let someone else’s game to throw you off YOUR game.

The NBA Conference Semi Finals are on. One team is playing great. The other, not so much. This used to irritate me, greatly. When the team I rooted for played like dummies, did some especially DUMB sports related things, in my eyes, I would have ten kinds of fits.

Worse, if after having lost due to said sports dumbness, in MY eyes, I would be annoyed for hours. Fuming, fussing, debating if I would EVER watch them again. That is, until the NEXT game. Rinse. Repeat.

As you can imagine, this can be quite exhausting. Also, this took away from enjoying the game. Tying THEIR loss, to MY life, was super ridiculous….*shrug*. Don’t judge me, too harshly, anyway. It’s what us sports geeks tend to do..*shrug*.

I had a loooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooong talk with myself and determined to TRY and enjoy the teams TRY and not worry, tooooooooooooo terribly much, about who wins or lose. Egads and Yikes, at times, can be hard to do, still.

Still, I try. Last night, the team I was rooting for, had the NERVE TO LOSE!!!!!!!!!

Ehem…sorry ’bout dat…….hahahahahahahahahahahahaha!

Note, I am a work, in progress.

I say all of that, to say this:

Your worth, your value, your progress, or lack there of, has ZERO to do with someone else’s wins or losses.

Don’t let someone else’s game to throw you off YOUR game.

Play.

Win.

Lose.

Try.

Try, again.

Try, some more.

It’s ALL in the try. Until your team loses, of course.

TRYing,

Cassandra

#YourLifeMattersToMe