You do NOT need the like of another, of others, before you can/will/do, like you, first.
FIRST, beloveds, you must like YOU, first!
Then, if folks still not liking you, if you still are not getting those likes, or no likes, who in the holy flying flip gives two hoots!!!??
The ONLY likes you need to be likin and hankering for are:
YOUR, likes.
God’s, Likes for YOU.
Lifes’ Likes, for YOU.
Hopefully, your fam, your peeps, your circle, will ‘like’ you. And, if they choose not to, for whatever reason, well, why, ever flavor ain’t for everybody. Not your work today.
So long as you ain’t runnin around actin a fool, being an unlikable pain, then it’s on them, not you. And, if you ARE being a non likable goof, stop being one, and keep it moving. Forgive yourself. Ask for forgiveness for your acting a fool and continue to love on some you.
Time for folks to STOP chasing likes, thumbs up, smile emojis, and whatever ever things folks be chasing now up in the social media game.
HA!
It ain’t ’bout other folks likes for you, beloveds. So long as you are loving and liking some you, well, tell the world to go on head and kick some rocks!
You are:
Amazing.
Dazzling.
Worthy of love.
And, when you are not so much those things, you STILL worth of love and all of life’s good things.
Love you, some you.
Then, spare a bit of love, for me, okay, please and thanks?
*Cassandra does some serious chair dancing round the room*
YYYYYYYYYAAAAAAASSSSSSSSSSSSSSSS!!!!
Yea, boy!!
She’s back!!!!
*Cassandra snatches up Britta, from across the pond, and does a chair dance*…..heya!!!
*Cassandra swipes up Ashley and does a chair dance just for the fresh hell of it*…
YYYYYYYAAAAAAAAASSSSSSSSSSSSSS!!!
*Cassandra does some serious chair dancing with every beloved she sees/hears*…..
YYYYYYYYYYYYAAAAAAAASSSSSSSSSSSS!!!
Hope all have been well. Have taken some moments, many, many, many, moments, in fact, to make sure my chicklets(mind), my heart, my soul, and my spirit took some me time to do whatever in the world I felt like, did not feel like, who gives a hoot who likes it, time for Me, Myself and I!
HA!!!
Yep, beloveds, had to tell Martha to go on head, honey, and take TWO SEATS!
Then, me and Mary have been having a blast resting, resting, resting, resting, resting. And, when we got tired of resting, well, shrug, fresh hell, we rested, rested, rested and rested, some more.
So, am back. Ret for action.
Okay, not ret for action. Am tired, still, from three decades worth of shouting into the void for me, for others. And, also just shouting, for no good reason, for many reasons, for all reasons.
Yep, a sista was, and still is, tired. Yet, I am doing some me time. For, the first time. Time, for it, don’tcha think?
This time, yea, THIS TIME, beloveds for the FIRST time, I don’t feel a bit guilty about looking out, for me.
No, I have NOT been leaping tall buildings, in a single bound. Heck, I have barely scraped my way out of bed to take out trash, run the dish washer, cook and do the every day things we MUST keep doing whether we feel like it or not.
No, I have NOT been fighting alongside the Avengers as they have set about avenging this and that. Have left the cape in the closet, where it is fixin to stay.
No, I have NOT been doing other folks work in trying to get them to be joyful/playful/able/capable. I have prayed for all, and have kept my train moving. Folks have to do their own work. Or, not, then suffer the consequences of not having done said work….*shrug*.
Yes, I have been thinking of, praying for, rooting for, being about it for, you, beloveds.
Yes, I have been carrying my hopes and dreams and prayers and wonderings to God and Life in order for Them to do whatever the heckamia They want to do with them…*shrug*. It’s no longer MY issue or problem to solve.
Nope, once I have laid my heart, my prayers, my hopes, my dreams, my all and all, in the Hands, and at the Feet, of God and Life, well, it then becomes a Them problem. All, I have to do, after that, is to remain hopeful, helpful, prayerful, joyful and let the cards play out as they will, or won’t.
And, if those things don’t find their way, to me….well, hey, that’s completely okay with me.
I have tried the thing, prayed for the thing, did the best I could to procure the thing. The rest will or won’t come out, in the wash, as the old folks used to say.
It has taken years, no, decades, to learn to lay down the shovel, the ax, the weapons, the toil, the strife, the “I have to do it or it will never get done”, “It’s on me or it will never be”, and all other manner of nonsense, and falsehoods we have been fed, by the world, in order to be, have or do.
Ahhh….*yawn*….
*Cassandra hears yet another respite calling out for her*
brb…*Cassandra whispers for folks to take care, to be encouraged, and to keep on keeping on til they need to get off the world and rest a bit*….
I love, love, absolutely love extra crispy fried chicken!….*hugs self*.
This may be due, in part, to wonderful images watching mom, frying up golden brown chicken, whilst humming badly. Egads mom, you sure hummed terribly. Seems like, I have picked up that trait, as well, mom….*shrug*.
N-E-Waze, I love, love, absolutely love extra crispy fried chicken. I love the smell. Growing older, though, I have tried to stay away from frying my food so have taken to my George Foreman Grill and now my FANTASTIC air fryer!!
I used to be afraid to fry chicken or make chili or anything that had to do with seasonings or extra things to prepare. I was always afraid of making things too salty, not salty enough. Too this, or too that. So, I didn’t cook. Mom taught us all to cook and I am actually a good cook, if I do say so myself.
Yet, over the years, I found myself being afraid to do this, to try that. I, sadly, blamed my age. I, like a dumbsky, blamed being a loud, black woman.
Yes, unfortunately, beloveds, I found myself listening to the nonsense the world, folks, circumstances, situations, the enemy, and, like a moron, myself put out, on the daily.
“You cant, do this”.
‘You’ll never, have that”.
“What makes you think, you of all people, can succeed at THAT!?”
“You don’t have the money, to do that, go there!”
“You have not done enough, for the world to pay a bit of attention to YOU, of all people!”
“Who in the world wound/will EVER love a loud, unattractive, big one, like you?!”
“What dummy or dummies would/will EVER waste time reading THAT??!!”
“Why the world do you care so damned much for a world who could give two damns about you?”
I could go on, and on. Like a blockhead, I DID go on and on, for quite a long wile, believing nonsense about myself, about my worth, about my potential, about my place and space, in this world.
Happily, wonderfully, awesomely, I found My Bestie, My Homie, My Homeslice, My Forever Friend, My You Got It Going On Like Popcorn Friend, who has been My Savior, My Comforter, My Everything for 30 plus years.
And, just as fantastically, fabulously, gloriously, God and Life relentlessly pursued me, loved me and helped me to love me, some me…..*hugs self*.
Having gained confidence, from trying things I thought I could not, well, I started trying different things.
Which brings me all the way back around to fried chicken. I love, love, absolutely love me some crispy fried chicken.
Determinedly, I have been experimenting with how to get it super crispy, in my air fryer.
Each time I have tried, I have not quite gotten things right.
At times, the chicken is seasoned, perfectly, yet I let the chicken cook, too long. Crimeny.
At times, I forgot to let the chicken sit and firm up a bit, after it had deliciously bathed in an egg bath and skipped, happily, through a plate of flour. Turns out, I had gotten more flour on myself, the countertop, the stove(don’t ask), then I got on the chicken and….fresh hell.
At times, I had JUST THE RIGHT AMOUNT of batter, cook time, etc. Yet, dammit, I had forgotten to spray the aluminum foil with non stick spray and the deliciously cooked batter stuck to the blasted foil! Foiled, again!!!…..ack!!!
Tonight, though, ah, tonight, I shall be successful.
I, think.
I, hope.
No, matter.
I AM going to, defeat this batter.
I SHALL leave this batter battlefield, in tatters, with it asking what is the matter, as I succeed in making the bestest, crispiest, golden fried chicken, ever concocted, created and eaten.
to be continued,
Cassandra
#YourLifeMattersToMe
Note: Life is short. Live some of it, would you please and thanks? Yes, you may fail. So, what. You will have some delicious memories to feed your soul and encourage someone else. Forgive yourself for the things you have not done yet and get to doing them. Get a goin! I go with you…
YOUR choice, to receive all that God and Life have prepared. Just for you.
You, and you, alone, determine whether you will:
Receive, your blessings.
Accept, yourself.
Love, yourself.
Allow others, to love you.
Experience, joy.
Walk in, freedom.
It is NOT, beloveds, up to a person, a place, a thing, a happening, a non happening, to make life all that it is waiting to be, for YOU.
Enough, already.
Enough, blaming yourself for the things you did not do, for the things you did not say, for the things that you said.
It is, ENOUGH!
You did what you could, beloveds, with what you had.
You have loved folks the best way you have known how. The ONLY way, you have known how, up to now.
Yet, you are fighting, STILL, to grow and to be all that you hope to be, wish that you could have been back then, back when life could have been so very different for you.
It is enough, beloveds.
Forgive, yourself.
Forgive, others.
For what, you, could not give yourself, then.
For what, others, cou8ld not give to you, then.
You are learning, now.
Now, is ALL you have, beloveds.
Waste not another moment, another second, lamenting all those things you think have surely been lost, forever.
For, the lost things, if they are lost, were not meant for you to have, now, currently.
It’s time to gather yourself, beloveds, and move FORWARD. No need, in looking backwards. The you that you were, way back then, is not the you that currently sits before you now. How do I know this and how can YOU know this?
Why, the old you would have not read these words, would not have been able to RECEIVE these words.
YOUR choice, beloveds.
What do you choose?
Choose, you.
Choose, love.
Choose, peace.
Choose, laughter.
Choose, joy.
You can have ALL these things, and so many more, even in tough times. ESPECIALLY, through tough times. It is a choice.
Why Can't I Be Loud?! 