Author: JustAskMaia

What are you reading?
I have been reading and listening to audio books lately and I don’t know why I ever stopped. There is a sense of enjoyment knowing that you are empowering your mind and expanding your mental horizons.
I’m not talking about romance or Steven king novels, I’m talking about books that will will make you reevaluate you life and structure your finances or change your way of thinking. Right now I am listening to rich dad poor dad and reading the Secret.
You don’t realize how your mind has been programmed from childhood. We speak negativity in our lives with out being aware
Something as simple as “I’m going to find a better job that will pay me more money” it sounds positive but its really not. What ever happened to your goals and aspirations as a child or even a young adult?  When did we decide that we were not worth the work that we give to other people and their companies? When did we decide that living by the rules and regulations of someone else’s idea of life was what we wanted to do? As young ones our biggest desire is to get from under the rule and thumb of our parents. But in actuality when you think about it working for someone else is worse. As an adult when have you ever had to make mention to your parents that you have to go to the bathroom? Well welcome to the work force. Or better known as the rat race. You chase the money and continue to find yourself living from check to check. Why? Why have you given  up on you? Why did you decide that you were not the time, the trouble, the investment, the reward?
The most gratifying feeling you will ever have is following your dreams. Yes sometimes you will get tired and sometimes you will feel discouraged but you WILL keep going. You will keep going because you want to, not because you have to. You will keep going because although there will be endless days and sleepless night you will love what you do.
There will be a sense of peace in your life that I assure you will elongate your life because you will be happy.
Is having a job a bad thing?  Of course not.
Is working for yourself better? Absolutely
All I am inspiring you to do is follow your heart.
No one else is going to build your dreams for you.
Last night my son asked me if I’d ever gambled, I instantly went to answer no but a thought popped in my head…
“Yes” I started. “I gamble everyday I go to work. I put in 8 hours of my most valuable asset; Time, and hope that the company will pay me for it come pay day”. Now to some of you that may seem extreme but you don’t really know what goes on with the inner workings of your job.  Your position may be here today gone tomorrow.  Then what? You find a job you hope has more security? Put some faith in yourself and make your dreams reality.
–Rush

 

Happy good Saturday loves!!!

I hope everyone had a peaceful thought provoking week. Did you decide what you want to do with your life? Did you analyze and strategize your plans for being happy. I surely hope you have decided to do away with the negative thoughts and people in your life.

Recently my husband and I went on a date. A long over due date. We went to dinner. We laughed and enjoyed one another without phone call or interruption. The children were with a well trusted friend and there was quiet and peace of mind to discuss the plans of our immediate future. We have decided to stop caring about what we spend and fretting over every dollar. We are pretty frugal to say the least and we calculate all that we spend. 90% of it being living accommodations the rest necessities. I spent $55 to get my hair done. $55 (gasping), my husband spent $15 which should have been $20 but he didn’t tip the barber (tisk tisk). Then we spent $65 for dinner. Inside I was having a panic attack because we just don’t do that. But Thomas said “why not?” why not spend money on ourselves. And I thought about it, could that be why most mothers and fathers are miserable? We as parents put so much emphasis on our family both financial and physical that we literally forget about ourselves. We in turn fight with our partners over frivolous things not realizing that its something as simple as taking a little time out for ourselves, to take a brief moment of silence to enjoy our life that we have built.

I recently decided that I am going to steal a moment each day just for me. To do absolutely nothing. Yesterday I sat in a semi lit room sipping a cup of coffee. It was quiet. It was nice. Just me and my thought to sit and be.

We have to learn not to stress about things. We have to trust that what we set out to do will get done.

Life is not short. It is as long as you desire it to be. Stress makes life short. Worries make life short. Constantly thinking about your should haves, could haves, and would haves makes life short. Your happiness and desire to inspire yourself and others is what gives you longevity.

Don’t think back on all the things that you may have done differently had you known then what you know now, it doesn’t matter. Thinking on the past will only make you regret your present and hate your future.

Set your goals and live out your aspirations. Why not? What exactly do you have to lose? Put yourself out there for yourself, you’d do it for your love ones. Are you not worth it?

My advice to you today is find time for yourself and don’t feel guilty about it.

-Rush

Hello loves.

You woke up this morning, what a beautiful way to start your day. This morning I woke up with you guys on my mind. I wonder how many of you read this blog and keep proceeding with your day as usual and how many of you actually allow it to marinate to your very soul.

What I say is not meant to be some deep epiphany but rather thought provoking. Are you happy? That is a question I often ask myself when I start out on a new venture in life. We must be happy in what we are doing or else, well, we’ll be unhappy.

Why do we stay where we know we are not happy? Do we not think we are worth the time that we have invested into someone else’s dream? I KNOW you have a dream or a goal. You are worth every drop of energy that you place elsewhere.

Distress will attempt to overcome you but maintain your confidence. You can do it. If you think you can’t ask me and I will tell you again; you CAN.

Finish these sentences.

Always play it ___________.

Money doesn’t grow__________.

Good thing come to those who________.

Money doesn’t buy_________.

See how you have been mentally programmed? We are bred to believe that if we wait, good things will come, and in some aspects, that may prove to be true, however that does not mean that you have to walk the same humdrum of life as the next man. It is important that we follow our heart, the first time. We second guess when obstacles stand in our way and that is when we veer off the road we were traveling and we find ourselves lost. Lost in the world of complacency and forgotten hope. Dusty dreams and subdued destinies. You have held your ideas captive in your mind and they just want to be free. Free to share with the world your creativity and your beauty. What are you waiting for?

Are you living with a purpose?

-Rush

Hello loves.

I hope by now, you all know the purpose of my blogs. I blog because I have much on my plate but I make every attempt (on most days) to get it done and I hope to be an inspiration to someone who may feel like they want to do more but are afraid to do so. Let me tell you, I absolutely have my days. As a matter of fact, one of my worst days are Friday. My husband works the weekend shift and he leaves Friday evenings and returns Saturday afternoon just about. After I gave birth to number nine, every Friday, like clockwork, I would get a migraine. I am not sure why, I suppose the anxiety of being home alone with nine children began to sink in. My heart would palpitate, I would hyperventilate and the migraine would be instantaneous. I remember the week after I had Cam, McRush had to go back to work and a few hours later he had to come see about me. It was one of the worst migraines I had ever had. I could not even breathe without the pain becoming immensely worse. I have gotten better since then but I still feel the anxiety but more so now from the state of affairs happening in our country. We are a black family who are God fearing, law abiding, kindhearted, don’t smoke, drink (besides an occasional glass of wine), or do drugs, respectful and all that other stuff that ultimately means nothing at the end of the day.

I cannot tell you the panic I feel if my husband does not call to let me know he made it to work, and we talk until he is in the building. Its crazy. Life is crazy. But you can do it. I have three businesses and nine children that I home school as well as find time to assist others in need. Life can get overwhelming but just breathe through it. When you look back over all of the things you worried about, you realize you never had to worry in the first place. Enjoy yourself. Pace yourself. I am rooting for you even though I do not know you.

I get emails all the time from people who want to know how I do it because they have less to manage and feel like they are going to fall apart, but that’s why I am here, to encourage you and push you. You can do this.

I am not a super woman. I am an everyday mother, wife, and businesswoman who has awful days just like you. It gets crazy, but you take a step back to assess and reboot. My purpose, hopefully, is to inspire you and push you to your greatness. That’s what my business is all about, reminding you everyday that you can, because you can.

So, if you love to hear me go on about the mayhem and foolishness in my life as well as the triumphs and set backs, then let it motivate you. If you hate it, let it motivate you. But whatever you do, be motivated to do it!

You guys keep us in your prayers and we will keep you in ours!

-Rush

So as I sit here eating an apple with peanut butter I mentally feel like I am starving to death, like literally my stomach touching my back type starving. But in actuality I am nutritionally satisfied. My stomach is not growling and I really am not hungry at all. Although I was craving a whopper, I behave myself completely today even with the delicious aroma of freshly cooked french fries lingering in the car. I almost had one, but then I remembered something I used to say to myself when I was younger and training to go into the Army; “If you cheat, no one loses but you”. That made me change my mind. I also realized that, really, who eats ONE french fry? I was setting myself up for failure and I knew it.

Today was day one of the 10 day smoothie challenge. I have a few virtual friends from Facebook who joined me along with some friends of mine and that works for accountability. Today was just as I imagined, deathly. But I made it and tomorrow is day 2.

What this short and torturous experience has made me realize is that I am an emotional eater. I think to some extent we all are but not only that, we eat something because we want it and while that is fine to not deprive yourself of treats, we tend to overdo it and find ourselves in situations where nothing in our closet fits correctly. I am one of those over doing it people though, I am what I call a mood eater which is worse than an emotional eater because it doesn’t matter the mood, I will eat because of it. Sad shame. I am doing better though.

I have a goal in mind and prayerfully I will meet it by Christmas. I am using this Smoothie challenge as a kickstart. I would like to commend my husband for encouraging me by joining me even though he doesn’t need it, he does need to clean up his eating habits though. I appreciate him.

I love you McRush!

-Rush

There is no possible way we can ever have a serious conversation. I declare my children are the biggest goofballs ever. As we try to educate Sai on the differences in problem solving via division and multiplication we cannot help but giggle at our pointless jokes and jesters as we poke fun about the situation. Its a wonder my children are as smart and focused as they are because we can barely keep a straight face around here. It is much fun though. That brings me to my next point, well my first point.

Today while perusing through Facebook, which is my first mistake, I came across a video someone posted but it was a repost; It was a mother beating her daughter. Now, I am not talking about a toddler getting spanked or a tween being reprimanded. I am speaking of a teenager about 16 getting something that didn’t look much like a belt swatted on her, not at her, ON her. It was the most demeaning post I have stumbled upon in a long time. This woman was cussing at this young lady while constantly calling her a b*t**. At no point in time did she seem to be doing this in her best interest. She was speaking in a very angry tone as if she were a slave master.

I truly wish that my people would stop abusing their children in this manner, or any manner. It is pointless and counterproductive to raising strong human beings. It made me sick to watch it because although she told the young lady numerous times to turn around it was very clear that she had no intention of hitting her on her behind. She slammed the object across her head so many times it was horrible to watch. I could not watch past the vulgarity and lack of embracing the moment of teaching. However when I showed it to McRush, we forwarded it to the end to see how long the embarrassment was. To our surprise and disgust there was a very young boy watching and recording. WHAT!? So not only are you subjecting you daughter to accept this type of “love” but you are teaching your son to give it? This is a sick and twisted world we live in.

Why would you teach your daughter that this type of abuse and humiliation is okay? You as a mother are her first teacher and role model. I have learned that women who do this are often filled with inner aggression, aggravation, self hate, and rejection and they take it out on people both verbally and physically. It is sad. Some of us are not ready to be parents because we are unwilling to see where we need to change and grow. It saddens my heart that this young lady, whatever she may have done, is learning that her just punishment should be harsh and in this knowledge she will continue to make mistakes and will never learn to use her better judgement but instead continue the cycle until someone forces her otherwise.

We need to teach our babies that in life we will make mistakes, we will always make mistakes, and that’s okay but what is important is not only that we learn from them and do better next time but that we also take time out to encourage someone else to make better decisions as well.

It is a vicious cycle that dates back to slavery, the Jim Crow era. Beating was a form of submission and to beat the dignity and self respect out of them and many of us do it today. And while I understand that the same method may not work for each child, trust me, I know with my 9 babies however this type of beating is for the scum of the streets and that is not how we should treat our children.

I am not here to pass judgement, just knowledge.

-Rush

As I sit here surrounded by my loves, I am reminded that God has amazing things in store for me and my family and I am so honored the opportunity to share it with you. It is so amazing to be able to log our adventures and share with our loved ones near and far. There are so many things in store for us and I cannot even tell you what it is. I cannot believe that four years ago my family was taking quick wash ups in the local fast food restaurants in Newport News Virginia. We had no support, no where to go, and no money to hold us over. It was hard and there were some moments when all I could do was cry inside. I felt so disappointed because it was my great idea in the first place; chasing after a job, that, might I ad, they decided to cancel the day before I was scheduled to come in.

In life there are many turns and twists, the best advice I can give is ride along and do it with a smile. Even on the days where I felt like a failure as a parent and not so good of a wife oftentimes finding it, understandably, hard to ease my husbands tension. He tried to act as if he were not worried but I could feel it. But, he held it together going out everyday to hit the labor pools at four in the morning oftentimes returning back because there was nothing available that day but those were the days we were hitting offices and temporary staffing companies. In the evenings we would find a spot to park and get some sleep only to start the hustle all over again. I remember being parked in the back of a waffle house by the dumpster (because it was the darkest spot we could find without street lights shining down on us) and the manager came out just as we got the children situated in the car to tell us that we couldn’t be there. That was pretty much where I panicked. I called my dad who said he would send some money but then didn’t answer his phone for the next two weeks but luckily this was nothing new to me so I called my mom’s boyfriend (whom I call dad because he has been there for me for about twenty years) and although I asked him not to tell my mom because I didn’t want her to worry he agreed to send money for a weeks worth of hotel and of course he told my mom. We endured there for about 3 months before heading back to South Carolina where we eventually got a place and stability.

As horrible as this experience may seem to some people, I know that life could be worst. But what I never forgot is that it could be better. I smiled through it all and took every moment as a lesson and a blessing. I was able to spend time with my children because we were all we had. I had not too long prior lost my daughter and that coupled with this experience taught me cherish my babies and love on them. Help them grow by feeding them knowledge that I never had until that very incident in life. I believe that we are all destined for greatness, the question is, who will choose to be? I don’t often push my company on here but I implore you to seek what you feel makes you happy and go for it, non stop and without hesitation or distraction. Do not remain complacent. Always seek for the better. You can do it, I know you can!

-Rush

 

I put out a lot of positive energy during the day. I wake early meditating and filling myself with positive vibes and affirmations. I am ready to start my day after this and giving dedication time to my God of understanding. I am careful when I speak and I assess every negative situation being sure to ask myself, what could I have done differently or what part did I play in this situation and was it beneficial all the way around. I do not yell at anyone or demean them in any way and I am sure to smile and speak at anyone who crosses my path.
When I feel myself getting angry or uncomfortable for any reason, I quickly excuse myself from the moment and breathe. I am generally a happy person and usually my happiness is intentionally infectious.
Then there are days like this where I want to scream to the top of my lungs as I ask myself two simple questions.
1. Why in the entire f*ck did I get married?
2. What the hell was I thinking having so much going on?
Like literally. Those are legit questions. Now you may gasp at the sight or sound of me saying these things but yes, I am human so no, I am not perfect. I apologize to those whoever thought that I was. It is not my intention for anyone to think of me or my family as better or holier than though than you or your own.
While my husband nor my babies will hear me speak so vulgarly and unbecoming of a lady, my mind will spew out words like a drunken sailor on New Years eve at an all you can drink nudity bar. But thankfully I am able to tame the inner verbiage beast within.
I cannot even begin to tell you how I feel some days. I have no one to vent to so I just keep it pushing like a high speed locomotive with no brakes. Most people in my life are so indecisive that one day I am a good guy and the next I am a bad guy all while changing nothing.
I know some of you, including my husband, will think, well why can’t you talk to McRush. And that is not at all the case. I absolutely can talk to my husband about anything. The problem is, though we have much in common we are very different in our upbringing. And as you know, no matter how much you hated the way your parents raised you, we all have the tendency to incorporate a lot of those very values and actions. With that being said, while I can talk to my husband and confide in him, he oftentimes does not grasp the complexity of the things I speak of therefore in the end, its as if I never got anything off my chest, I just boosted my word count for the day.
Surely most women feel this way because by nature we are a complicated creature and most men do try their best to try to understand where we are coming from. Bless their hearts, they do try.
Now the reasoning behind my questions.
Why did I get married.
Well, Let me just say that I have been married before and I know that this is legitimate love, honor, and respect. That is something I didn’t have. Protection, care, and selflessness is what McRush gives me everyday. In fact, I hated it when we first got married and it took me years to learn that this is what love looks like, its loving and cute. The total opposite of me. I have hardened my heart at every turn, hell, my children had to grow on me with all of that affection. I am kind of ashamed of that but I am also just being honest. My mother was not affectionate either. I know now that she loved me but honestly, I cannot say that I felt that way growing up. My biological father was not in the picture at all, I do not know why and I never asked. Mom never brought him up and neither did I. I did have a crazy step dad that treated me like his own. He and my mom didn’t always get along and not very affectionate from what I saw but I know he loved me to pieces and I loved him right back. At the age of 17, I ran away from home and straight to the greener grass, aka my biological father. That wasn’t as fun as I thought. I stayed with him a couple months and then ran away from him too. We are better now. I love him with all of the “daddy’s little girl” inside of me. I only get to see him if we travel back to Philly which is not nearly as often as I would like. But, as is life.
Anyhow, I have always been a free spirit and I love it. It was the one thing I always wanted to be when I grew up. Never tied down to one place. Never stuck doing one thing. Just exploring and enjoying the life that my God gave me. See, that’s where the question comes in about being married. McRush is more stable minded and wants everything planned and for the most part that is great for our marriage because we are diverse in our way of life so we can share with one another. But then there are days where I feel like he looks at me like some type of wild gypsy woman with no roots always going on about starting this and that. It saddens me because I always thought I would marry someone who was as much a go-getter as I am. I do not think, I just do. I am not crazy, I do analyze and that is different from thinking. But I always believed that beyond the sky there are no limits. God made all of this and I should explore and bring people along with me.
I believe that is why I struggle with my weight, too much complacency. When I was single, there were no boundaries or check ins or discussions about what I wanted to do. I wanted to do it so I just did it. Life was always on the go. I always worked two or more jobs and I was always naturally confident and happy. Now there is an effort that I have to put to those things and I do not like it. Which leads me to my next question of the day.
Why do I have so much going on.
I really already know the answer to this question but I still find myself asking it. The answer is to keep me occupied from the moments and times in my life where I am unhappy or discontent. But at the end of each day I know that I would not change my life for all of the tea in the world… money, that’s different. (I am just kidding!) Ultimately I love my life and while I am not able to soar the way I have always wanted to I am excited to inspire others do it by helping them start their own companies and giving them daily motivation to keep going, because truth-be-told, usually when I am giving them an encouraging word it was placed on my heart which means it was probably meant for me.
I love you guys and thank you for coming along on this bumpy road in life of mine.
-Rush