Mac Powerbook Version 10.9.5 - How do I get rid of the spinning beach ball?

Seems like you have an issue with the application you are using.
    Click the Apple icon in the top left corner.
    Choose Force Quit (or press cmd+alt+esc).
    Select the app that won't respond.
    Click Force Quit.

Thanks for your reply.

I don't have a problem closing down programs - so I don't have to use the force quite. It is a matter of the spinning beach ball showing up and slowing me down while I am typing or doing anything.  It pops up for about 7 to 10 seconds then stops but it keeps popping up.

Here's an article that may help:
https://macinhome.com/2015/06/slow-mac-five-simple-options-to-get-rid-of-the-beach-ball/

Typically the SBBOD come up when an application calls for more resources than the Mac has available. This could be caused by the app you are using or something else that happens to be running at the same time. Sometimes the answer is adding more memory or going from a spinning disk to SSD. I did this on one of my sons' laptops and it massively improved the response he was getting from a large app that he was running.

Reset the SMC, then reset the PRAM and see if that fixes it.

Since it's a Macbook that's only a few years old, Reset the SMC
Turn off the Mac.
Press and hold the left shift control option, then press and hold the power button.
Release all keys.
Power up.

Reset the PRAM
Turn on the Mac.
Press and hold the command option p r
Wait until you hear the chimes 3 times. (You should see the Apple logo pop up during each chime)
Release the keys and let it complete booting up.

Those 2 are quick and easy to do and should be tried before anything else, just to save some time.
If they don't fix it, then you can go on with further diagnostics.

Resetting the SMC and PRAM has gotten rid of the SBBOD.

I haven't had time to check all my programs but it seems that my "Text Edit" program is now not working correctly. I do not know if it is related to resetting the SMC and PRAM. Text Edit will open and I can use it but no matter what or how little I have highlighted, EVERYTHING changes if I try to underline, or make something bold or change the font size of a heading.

Maybe there's also corruption to some system files, including Text Edit, which comes with OS X.  You might just reinstall the OS without erasing the disk.  This should keep the profile intact and reinstall all the default Mac programs and system files.  You should still make a backup of your files just in case things don't work out.  Hold Command r when you boot.  Then Reinstall OS X.

It lasted about a day but now the SBBOD is back. I did not do any resinstalling of anything. My machine did not come with any disks or a CD drive so how does one reinstall?

Do the 2 resets again, then reinstall the OS.

I have clicked on the link above a few times and it always goes to a page that promotes iTunes.

Thanks for your help. I tried most of the suggestions. I began to notice that my computer seemed to be the worst when I was using Firefox. So I trashed Firefox and reinstalled and this helped immensely. Textedit is still not working correctly.

Appreciate all the help that I received.