Sunday, November 22, 2009

He would've been 76 today ...

Today is my father's birthday. My father is Youssef Ajaj Khoury. People called him Joe Khoury. My dad passed away 22 years ago on August 14, 1987. It took me about 17 years to even begin accepting the fact that he had passed away. My dad was a great man. He was incredible both to his family and to anyone that was part of his life. I remember my friends saying phrases like "you're so lucky, your dad left work just to oil your roller skates." His passing left my 2 brothers, my mom and I in such shock that still to this day we have a hard time talking about the whole incident for too long.

I am at a place though where I would like to acknowledge this great man and thank him for all he's done for me. I was very intuitive growing up. As a matter of fact, a few months before my dad passed away I would hear a voice in my ear telling me it was going to happen. I remember jerking my head and saying "NO!" but I knew that I couldn’t prevent the inevitable. I was 13 at the time. My intuition continued to be strong for about 10 years after that which is when I decided to shut it off completely because it got to be so overwhelming. I managed to do just that for about 5 years but when my oldest son was born everything seemed to come flooding back. I felt spirits all around me and it really freaked me out. One of the things I felt most prominently was the presence of my dad. I just knew he was around which is when I went searching for answers. It was my dad who wouldn't let up until I found my way back to my passion and life's work.

Growing up I lived in Saudi Arabia which is where my dad worked. My mom and dad would go for daily walks with me on his shoulders; I absolutely loved that. When I got too big for that we would walk together and talk about everything. He was the type that would explain to you anything you'd like to know about. He would wake me up every morning at 6 am to find the morning star. Now whenever I happen to see the morning star I acknowledge my pop and tell him that I love him and miss him. He would spend hours with me looking up at the stars and the moon through a telescope. I learned to find the big dipper and was fascinated by the craters of the moon. He would help my mother make the salad for our meals and they were the best. My dad had a special touch that made everything just feel better. You just felt safe in the presence of my dad. He was a man of integrity and would never let anything stand in the way of what he believed in. He loved listening to the music of Peter Tchaikovsky. My music listening is not quite as refined but I love to listen to his music every so often to honor my dad.

I could go on writing about my dad for days. Today I would like to wish my dad a very Happy Birthday. If he was on this Earth plane I would bake a fabulous cake, make a huge meal and drink to his health and happiness. He is not on this earthly plane but I do feel that he is with us all the time. So I will wish for him whatever makes him happy in heaven; maybe that’s hanging out with his buddies or going for a long walk or whatever else. I miss my dad more than words can describe. I wish he was here giving me his big bear hugs. I wish he were here so that I could tell him in person how much I love him and value him. I always say to people that the only thing that happens when people die is that they change form but that they are still with us. I know he hears and appreciates this birthday wish.

Happy Birthday Dad! I love you and will miss you always!

Your daughter,
Mary Khoury Salfi  

Thursday, November 12, 2009

Law of Attraction

I just finished reading a book called "The Power of Awareness" by Neville. I must've read the entire book in one day. What a fantastic book! Neville talks about the Law of Attraction in this book although he terms it something else.

Neville discusses the idea of manifesting into your life all that you want "by assuming the feeling of the wish already fulfilled". In other words, when you want something then you act as if it's already in your experience. The Universe without fail responds to your thoughts. This concept is explained perfectly by the following quote from the book "The Vortex" by Jerry and Esther Hicks:

"You live in a Universe that is based upon the Law of Attraction. That means that this is an inclusion-based Universe, not an exclusion-based Universe. In other words, in an inclusion-based, attraction-based Universe, there is simply no such thing as "no". When you look at something wanted and you say "yes" to it, you are including it in your Vibration; and it becomes part of your Vibrational offering, which means it is a part of your point of attraction, which means - it begins to come to you. But when you shout "no" at something, you are including it in your Vibration, also, so it then becomes part of your Vibrational offering, which means it is a part of your point of attraction, which means - it begins to come to you."

Think about that for a moment. Even if you are saying “no” to something you are essentially inviting it into your experience. Isn’t that wild? I’ve heard it said before that the Universe doesn’t understand the word no. If you’re thinking about it in any which way it’s coming to you!

Our thoughts are truly the basis of everything. It is on that subconscious level of thinking that we manifest everything into our life. Outwardly, you may be saying something however what appears in your life is what you truly feel. This constantly brings me back to understanding who you are and what you're about. Once you realize how you would like your life to look like then you can begin to visualize it that way until it becomes a reality. Neville talks about imagining what you'd like to have every night before going to sleep and eventually you will manifest your desires.

If what you’d like to manifest is a house then before going to be every night feel as if you already own the house, see the colors on the wall, visualize the furniture you’ve decorated it with … etc. The key is to keep doing this until your wish has been fulfilled. So many of us will give up on our dreams because we feel it’s been too long and if it was going to work then it would have. Neville gives examples of people doing this exercise for 2 years to then have their dreams manifested.

The teachings of Abraham channeled through Esther Hicks will suggest that we focus on joy. They suggest that we constantly reach for a better feeling of where we’re at. I feel that’s a fantastic way to look at the Law of Attraction. So if I say that I’d like to manifest happiness into my existence that means if a house makes me happy then it will come into my experience with the opposite being true.

So what are you looking to attract into your life?

I’d love to hear from you! Please leave a comment below, email me to mary@marysalfi.com or find me on Facebook to leave a comment there.

With happiness!
Mary

Monday, November 2, 2009

Dharma

My niece Elssa was born in the wee hours of Halloween morning. She has brought a lot of love and joy with her. It's amazing how much you can love someone without even meeting them yet. She certainly has the love of her aunt and will for all of time.

Elssa's name means God's promise or God is my oath. Since she's been born I've thought about her promise or her dharma. Dharma is our divine mission; it's the reason we are on Earth. I thought about what may be the dharma of my boys Louie and Zack. Any time I talk to someone about their life purpose, I ask them to think back to when they were 8 years old and tell me what they loved to do. I ask them to think back to the time when life wasn't in the way of their happiness.

Ever since I can remember I've always wanted to be a counselor. I thought I would be great at it since I loved listening to people and helping them figure out a solution to their issue. The problem became that I didn't know how to set the boundaries between what was someone else's problem and mine. I got to the point that I was so overwhelmed with sadness that I decided to turn away from my dharma and go in the exact opposite direction which is when I went to engineering school and graduated with honors as an Electrical Engineer. Not once during the entire time I was in school was I passionate about what I was doing. Eventually I found my way back into doing what I love doing and that is listening to people and offering them guidance to a better life.

My heart's desire would be to not get in the way of my children's dharma. If my son wants to be a football player then I'd like to cheer him on no matter how much I'm afraid of him getting injured. My husband and I always think that our youngest is going to do something wild with his life. He's the no fear and get out of my way type. I am going to make an effort to allow him to fulfill his passion as well.

Back to Elssa which is where all this thought process began. What is her dharma I wonder? I feel that our passion begins showing up when we're really young. The toys we play with and the books we gravitate towards. I have a cousin who would take apart anything that was put in his hands and he eventually became an engineer which suits him perfectly.

If you have kids, look for what they like to play with and what stories they love to listen to. I hope that this post has intrigued you enough to wonder about your own dharma. One thing is guaranteed, if you're not fulfilling your life purpose then you will constantly feel nagged and maybe even unhappy to some extent. So start asking yourself those questions of "who am I?", "what do I love to do?", "what makes me happy?", "if I could do or be anything I want to what would I choose?" ... etc. It is your obligation to yourself to be happy and guaranteed you are happiest when fulfilling your dharma!

I wish for Elssa, my boys, my other nieces and nephews a life of ultimate joy. I wish for them the wisdom to recognize what their dharma is and to fulfill it to its utmost. We all came into the world to shine and shine we do when doing what we love.

I'd love to hear from you. Email me to mary@marysalfi.com, find me on Facebook or leave a comment below.

With passion,
Mary