My top five

My family and I went up skiing this past weekend. We had a great time but then on the way back we got stuck in the most horrendous traffic. It took us eight hours to get from Beaver Creek to Denver! 

During the drive, I had a lot of time to think. We started talking about all the issues that I am constantly posting about on Facebook. I came up with my top five environmental issues that are keeping me up at night. 

Trans Pacific Partnership

The secrecy of this trade agreement has me very worried. The TPP as it's know is a trade agreement between the United States, Australia, Brunei Darussalam, Canada, Chile, Japan, Malaysia, Mexico, New Zealand, Peru, Singapore and Vietnam. 

The following sentence describing the treaty doesn't sit well with me, "The treaty has 29 chapters, dealing with everything from financial services to telecommunications to sanitary standards for food." Wait a minute! Allowing other governments into our domestic policies and food standards is not something I'd like to sign up for.

It is our job to be informed about this trade agreement and get to a point where we accept it because it makes sense to us or reject it because it is not in our favor. Either way, having it remain a secret is not a good sign!

Genetically Modified Ingredients

Of course, this is one of my biggest concerns so it was going to make my top 5. While in the mountains this weekend, everywhere I looked, I saw genetically modified foods. We stopped for hot chocolate and s'mores at one point during our ski day. Normally, I don't allow my kids any of that stuff but honestly there was no avoiding it. My boys were hungry and cold so we had to stop. 

I thought about all the people in that restaurant. So if they were or were not informed about genetically modified ingredients, their choices were the same. Only GM foods were available to them. When did we get here and how is this acceptable to everyone?

Fukushima 

I don't even know how to describe this one because I am still in the process of learning about it. Some sites say that the radiation will reach the coast of California and it will be very dangerous. Others claim that you can swim of the coast of Fukushima and eat fish from the Pacific. The jury is still out. I need to learn more. 

Clean drinking water

Again, I am in the process of learning the effects of adding fluoride to our drinking water. Is it safe? Is it necessary? What are the side effects? What else is being added to the water? and why? 

Atrazine has found it's way into our drinking water. Look it up and get horrified! It's just not acceptable. 

Clean Energy

Keystone XL and fracking is what we came up with here.  Why can't we focus our efforts on creating clean energy? We are a country of geniuses yet we are constantly damaging our environment. Can't we find a better way that is more in harmony with the Earth?

It doesn't stop here ...

I am of course failing to mention the petition I just signed for Subway to remove Azodicarbonamide from their bread or the one I signed to maintain net neutrality (can you imagine that?!). I am not mentioning all the chemicals found in every day soaps, shampoos and toothpaste or the chlorine in baby wipes or the harmful ingredients in detergents ... the list is endless. 

Sometimes I get so discouraged by all these things that we are facing and I just find it hopeless. However, giving up is not who I am so I am constantly trying to raise awareness. 

Help in any way you can

Please go to my Facebook page Earth Aware and start signing some petitions. I hope these posts and petitions are making a difference!

Mary
 

Peyton Manning ... Enough Said!

Peyton Manning ... need I say more! What an incredible man. I would have loved to have him crown his amazing season with a Super Bowl win but at this point I could care less about that. 

This is a man of incredible character and as a Denver resident, I could not be more proud of how he carries himself through his wins and losses. Maybe the reason we don't get so carried away with it all is because he doesn't seem to get carried away. This is a season where he broke so many records, some that were his own, yet you never saw him waver from the stand up man that he is. Win or lose, Peyton Manning is a winner.

Richard Sherman said it best in a tweet, "Peyton is the Classiest person/player I have ever met! I could learn so much from him! Thank you for being a great Competitor and person." 

Incredible Role Model

I have two boys, ages ten and eight, who love every sport out there but especially football. Mothers, like myself, love having a quarterback like Peyton Manning playing the game as a role model for our boys.

We say things to our kids like, "Did Peyton Manning give up after his neck injury or did he go out there and try his best and ultimately win the AFC championship and take his team to the Super Bowl?" or we'll say, "What a great guy Peyton Manning is. Although he is super disappointed with that loss, he acknowledged his teammates as being a great football team and working hard to get to this point." 
 
Character is key

I am reading an amazing book called "How Children Succeed: Grit, Curiosity, and the Hidden Power of Character" by Paul Tough. I am only about a third of the way through but it has made me think a lot about what I am teaching my kids and what is truly important as far as academics go. 

What I have thought about the most is how to develop character in my children. How to make sure that when the going gets somewhat tough, they can rise to the challenge and not give up as easily as they'd like to?

Grit, what an amazingly descriptive word. How do I develop grit in my sons and daughter? How do I enable them to succeed in a world that will definitely present challenges to them. 

Maybe Peyton's parents could offer some advice.

I'll bet they are proud! 

I think it's safe to say that most parents would love to see their child succeed at their job and Manning has definitely done that. However, I would venture to guess that his parents are probably most proud of the man he is. 

I certainly would rather see my son be a role model to all regardless of the outcome. I believe that is the definition of a winner.

Peyton Manning, keep up the great work! I am certainly looking forward to all the great things you will do next season! 

Thoughts you'd like to share

I'd love to hear from you. You may leave a comment below, email me to mary@marysalfi.com or find me on Facebook by becoming a fan of marysalfi.com. 

Go Broncos!

Mary

I was told to focus

If you are a Facebook friend of mine, you'll realize that I have been posting a lot about GMO labeling, internet neutrality, the Trans-Pacific Partnership and more. 

I have been thinking a lot about the health and safety of human beings and the Earth. When I say a lot, I mean a lot! I go to sleep thinking and meditating on how to make it better. I'd like our food to be safe, our water to be clean, the internet to remain accessible to all and more. 

I have started to write about all these issues on this blog and that seems contradictory to what is was meant to do.

Earth Aware

I woke up the other morning declaring to my husband that I needed to start a Facebook page that brought all these issue to light. He agreed and upon brainstorming together we came up with "Earth Aware". 

Earth Aware is a Facebook page where I will post petitions, articles and information in general about all that I think is good for us to be aware of. 

My desire for that page is for it to reach 1 Million subscribers! I know it's ambitious but I'd like to think big. I believe in the power of intention. If I believe it then it will come to fruition. I am going to meditate on a million subscribers until I get that!

Focus!

My husband's exact words were, "You are scattered right now. One day you're blogging about Spirit Guides, then next about politicians and then about GMOs". I thought I needed to separate the spiritual versus the practical world but in reality, they go hand in hand. 

It is our duty as human beings to care for the Earth. When we know who are Spirit Guides are we can ask them for help in saving the bees. We can ask them to guide us as to what to do next in order to get GMOs labeled. That is their job, to help us with all that is troubling us. 

It might not be as spiritual to write about food and water safety but it is a necessity.

Lightworkers

The term lightworker is used for people who are trying to transform human consciousness and raise awareness. They are people who bring in the light so to speak. 

This is definitely a time in our evolution as humans to shed light on a lot of issues that are not necessarily in the best interest of our fellow man or the planet. 

Marianne Williamson running for Congress is a perfect example of a lightworker expanding her work into areas that are not considered spiritual. 

These words by Marianne Williamson describe it perfectly, "I do not think of this move as a career change. Rather, I feel I’m further expanding my work by taking the transformational principles to which I have dedicated myself for the last thirty years into another area where they are sorely needed. While a new paradigm, holistic, relational perspective now saturates many areas of our society — from education to business to medicine to spirituality — our politics seem to be outside its reach".

It is time!

It's just time for all of us to realize that we can and should make a difference. No one is too busy to realize that our food standards are decreasing or that the bees are dying. All these issues ultimately affect our health and the legacy we hand to our children. Let's ensure that their's is a safe and manageable world. 

I'd love to hear from you. You may leave a comment below, email me to mary@marysalfi.com or find me on Facebook by becoming a fan of marysalfi.com. Finally please go to Earth Aware and sign some petitions. 

Together we can do this!
Mary

Salmon will never be the same!

Canada has approved genetically modified salmon to go into production. I read this on Facebook this morning and proceeded to find out if it was true by searching it on the internet. It is true and extremely disturbing!

Some environmental groups want a court to decide if the federal government of Canada violated it's own rule by allowing GE (genetically engineered) salmon to be produced.

I don't get it

This GE salmon is supposed to grow to market size at a faster rate than wild salmon. Why is this necessary anyway? Why would we jeopardize our ecosystems to get something faster? Is bigger and faster our mantra now regardless of the impact it may have on our planet? 

When Canada makes a decision like that, it affects the entire planet. This decision should not have been made without sufficient proof that GE salmon will not affect the planet's ecosystems and species. It is not clear whether this GE salmon will become invasive and possibly breed with other species, wipe them out, or who knows what else. 

This is not a decision that should have been made lightly and yet it was!

What's in this frankenfish anyway?

Genetic material from Chinook salmon and the eel-like species ocean pout were inserted into Atlantic salmon eggs to create AquAdvantage salmon. 

Doesn't that sound disgusting? Who thinks of this stuff anyway and why?

Is it too late?

In one of the documentaries I saw about genetically modified products, one of the executives of a biotech company said something along the lines of, "we are hoping to get to the day where genetically engineered products have infiltrated the food supply so much that there is no turning back". I wonder if we are at that point?

What will it take for us to wake up and say no?

The Power of Food 

I am reading a fantastic book called The Fourfold Path to Healing: Working with the Laws of Nutrition, Therapeutics, Movement and Meditation in the Art of Medicine by Thomas Cowan, Sally Fallon and Jaimen McMillan.

One paragraph really hit home for me. It talks about the fact that food is essential to our well-being. We forget that our bodies are perfect, they are not meant to battle disease if we nourish and feed our bodies properly. The author talks about the necessity of preparing food and taking the time to make a healthy meal. Food has the capacity to heal any ailment we are experiencing provided that it is a whole food. 

Genetically modified foods started their life out in a laboratory, far from the way God intended our food to come to our table. 

Let's do this together!

If you need ideas on how to switch to organic food and products, I am here to help. Organic food may seem daunting and expensive but it really is not and the benefits are tremendous!

I am constantly signing petitions and trying to raise awareness on the ill-effects of GMOs. Please join me in this endeavor. I always post them to Facebook.

I'd love to hear from you. You may leave a comment below, email me to mary@marysalfi.com or find me on Facebook by becoming a fan of marysalfi.com

It is time!
Mary

 
 
 

 

On to the next ...

My last post about genetically modified products was the most read post of any I have ever written. Thanks for reading and sharing!

I just finished a book called, "Just Like Us: The True Story of Four Mexican Girls Coming of Age in America" by Helen Thorpe. It is a very interesting book in the concepts it brings up.

This book is basically highlighting the immigration problem we have in the United States. It really challenged me to truly think how I felt about this issue being that I became a naturalized citizen myself. 

At the time Helen Thorpe wrote the book she was married to the mayor of Denver. She wrote quite a bit about a Senator at the time and his views on immigration. I started to wonder what his views would be on other hot topics such as: genetically modified products, Keystone XL, the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) trade negotiation and so on. 

This got me thinking about the current representation we have in Congress and the biggest question of all:

Are they really representing me?

Do you know who your representatives are? Do you know if they truly represent your values? Did you really vote for them or just check the box based on party affiliation?  

I can answer that question for myself and the answer is "no" on all accounts. I never have taken the time to understand politics. It really is not something that has even interested me until now. 

Google is a beautiful thing!

I started with a Google search about Congress. Who are it's members, how many in the Senate and how many in the House? How do the different states get their number of representatives in the House?

I moved to search about Colorado. Who is the mayor of Denver? What are his values? Who is the governor of Colorado? Who are the members of Congress for Colorado? 

It is my mission to understand these people better. They are the ones voting on my future and that of my children. 

Taking control 

Some of you are super knowledgeable on these topics presented in this post. I admire you. I hope to become like you one day. 

In the meantime, if you read this post and struggled to name your mayor, governor and senate representatives, please join me in the quest to take a little more control of our future.  

Let's vote for the person who represents us and our ideals. If they get elected, then let's hold them accountable to their promises. If the person you didn't vote for get elected, then also hold them accountable. It truly is the way to get our voices heard.

Your thoughts ... I'd love to hear them! 

You may leave a comment below, email me to mary@marysalfi.com or find me on Facebook by becoming a fan of marysalfi.com
 
Vote strong!
Mary 
 
 

It was only a matter of time ...

before I posted about genetically modified food! For those of you who are friends of mine on Facebook, this post will come as no surprise to you. What is the deal with Monsanto and genetically engineered products anyway?!

I know people differ in their opinion of GE (genetically engineered) food. Some think they will save the world and others think it will destroy everything we know to be real food. I am not here to debate anyone's opinion because I respect your opinion to be yours.

Just label it and we'll be happier

My biggest issue with it is why the secrecy and deception around labeling their products. Let the consumer make their own choice but let the consumer have a choice. Why spend millions trying to defeat labeling laws instead of standing strong behind their products and labeling them with pride? 

Is there maybe nothing to be proud off? Why is it that Europe has successfully imposed labeling laws. Why is it that Kellogg's corn flakes is GMO free in Europe but not in the United States? Do Americans not care? Do we not deserve better food? 

The amount of chemicals used in growing genetically engineered foods is of the biggest issues I have with the whole process. In addition to the fact that it is not food, in my opinion, if it started it's life in a laboratory.

Currently, the only way to guarantee that you are not getting GE products in your food is to buy organic. Even if you buy all natural products, that is not a guarantee. If you buy all natural chicken then chances are that chicken has eaten genetically modified corn or some other GE product. Let it be my choice if I am OK with that for myself and my family. 
  
Seven Generation Sustainability as printed on Wikipedia

Seven generation sustainability is an ecological concept that urges the current generation of humans to live sustainably and work for the benefit of the seventh generation into the future. It originated with the Iroquois - Great Law of the Iroquois - which holds appropriate to think seven generations ahead (about 140 years into the future) and decide whether the decisions they make today would benefit their children seven generations into the future.

"In every deliberation, we must consider the impact on the seventh generation... even if it requires having skin as thick as the bark of a pine." This is an often repeated saying, and most who use it claim that it comes from “The Constitution of the Iroquois Nations: The Great Binding Law.”

Are we practicing Seven Generation Sustainability?

We all have an obligation towards the generations to come. Are we all doing our part? Are we recycling, consuming less, keeping our waters clean, minimizing our impact on the environment and so on? After all, the likelihood that we will be living in the future generations back on Earth are extremely high! 

A very information documentary on Monsanto and GE foods can be found on YouTube called "The World According to Monsanto GMO documentary." It was definitely eye opening for me. 

Your thoughts ... I'd love to hear them!

You may leave a comment below, email me to mary@marysalfi.com or find me on Facebook by becoming a fan of marysalfi.com
 

Your Spirit Guides

My three kids are snuggled up in their beds while I write this post. The house is perfectly quiet, my fireplace is on and I am blogging - something I love to do! It is pretty awesome.

I have been wanting to work lately without compromising my "stay-at-home" role. Ideas? I'd love to hear them. I have been asking for divine help on this topic too. To who in specific, you ask? Good question!

Spirit guides - who are they?

I probably have written about Spirit Guides before but they are such an important part of our spiritual journey and as such, definitely worth another post. Spirit Guides are exactly what their name implies. They are spiritual beings whose job is to help you with your journey on Earth. 

Some believe that they could be a deceased loved one, some believe that they are definitely not anyone related to us, some believe that guides come and go as our lives dictate ... It really doesn't matter. All these things are technicalities. Just keep in mind that they are spiritual beings that are available to help you 24/7. Isn't that amazing?!

Problem is ...

The problem with having Spirit Guides is that we need to ask for help. Some believe that Spirit Guides will not interfere in our lives unless we ask them to. I don't know if I believe that and again it doesn't matter. I actually think that if we're not asking, then we are not in a space to receive or listen for the answer.

Our guides will make our lives so much easier if we just asked for their help. Nothing is too silly or small and absolutely nothing is too big. If we feel it is a burden or we need help with it, then it is legitimate to ask for help. 

How to ask for help?

The easiest way to ask for help from your guides is to just state what you need. It is actually very simple. If you are looking for a job then ask that they help you find one that suits you and will make you happy. If you are looking for a soul mate then ask for them to bring him or her to you. 

Your gut feelings are your guidance. Follow them! I can't stress to you enough how important it is to follow your intuition. Sometimes, it feels silly or far-fetched to follow your gut but trust me, it will never betray you. 

Simply put

Ask, ask and ask some more! Spend time in meditation so that you can connect with your guides and receive their guidance for you. If you need help meditating, send me an email to mary@marysalfi.com and I will give you some ideas. 

Thoughts, questions, comments or ideas?

You may leave a comment below, email me to mary@marysalfi.com or find me on Facebook by becoming a fan of marysalfi.com 

Have fun connecting!

It's a New Year!

Happy New Year everyone! I just realized that it's been years since I wrote a post. I had said that I would start a long time ago but here I am, yet another resolution that didn't find it's way to fruition. It's time to let myself off the hook and just say that I will do what I can when I can. I am on a cleanse today so that should count for something as far as resolutions go, shouldn't it?

A life changing book 

I recently read a great book that I highly recommend called "The Game of Life and How to Play it" by Florence Shinn. I was at a bookstore picking up a book for a friend when the lady said, "This book is a life changer". Of course I had to buy it at that point. She was right. I read it twice all the way through. It's on my Kindle so I constantly go to a part that I have highlighted to reread the nuggets of wisdom in it. 

It really is a book about the Law of Attraction and I love anything to do with the Law of Attraction. I think it's because it is so empowering. This idea puts you in the driver seat of your life. What a great place to be. 

Law of Attraction

The Law of Attraction states that we manifest everything in our lives. We may think that our thoughts are perfect but truly when we spend time in a meditative state, our truth is revealed. 
Meditation is key to everything. It is the ability to connect with that higher power that is here to serve. 

I have been meditating quite a bit lately and through that I have realized a lot of the unnecessary chatter that is within me. My chatter is usually in the in the form of fear and/or worry. I have started to say things like, "let go and let God come and take the place of that fear and worry". 

Practice, practice and then practice some more!

I thought about myself a few years back when I was a lot more confident about everything and had to understand why. I was meditating on a daily basis and I was practicing being in that state of gratitude and manifestation.

I have started this week on a great cleanse to purge all the excesses of the holiday season. My intention is to purge all the chatter too. It is time for it to go. I am going to do that by practicing controlling my thoughts. Want to join me on my journey? I would love to hear from you!

You may leave a comment below, email me to mary@marysalfi.com or find me on Facebook by becoming a fan of marysalfi.com

The Truth Will Set You Free!

Have I mentioned that I LOVE Oprah! I’ve been taping her Lifeclass series and watching it with Mia during the day. I feel it’s good for my daughter to be exposed to awesome messages even at two months old.

What is my truth?

The lesson the other day was about speaking your truth. Oprah showed snippets of a show she did with Ellen DeGeneres when Ellen announced that she was gay back in 1997. Oprah’s point was that when Ellen spoke her truth and revealed her true identity, she was able to reach her potential without anything dragging her down.

I started thinking about what is my truth and what was I hiding. At that moment, I realized that my truth was that I was intuitive and that was truly my life path. Whether I wasn’t going to admit it or not, really didn’t matter as to who I really am.

I’ve always known and felt things

I remember being a kid and looking behind me constantly because I felt someone was following me. I knew when my Grandmother died.

I felt my dad’s presence the morning I took government exams in Lebanon. This is actually a cool story. Before being accepted into college in Lebanon you have to pass government exams. That morning, I was going to take my math test. I woke up really early and my mom gave me a cup of coffee in my dad’s mug. She didn’t realize that it was his mug but it took me aback a little. It was only a couple of years after he had passed and the grief was still very raw. I thought to myself though that I was going to drink out of his mug and have that be my good luck charm. When I got in my car, I kept looking over at the passenger seat because I swear I thought he was going to materialize at any moment. I felt his presence all the way until I picked up my friend. I ended up getting the second highest possible score in all of Lebanon on that math exam.

Being the best person you could be

The other inspiring thing I heard on the Oprah show was how her best friend described her. She said, “The greatest thing about Oprah is as she’s pulling herself up with one arm, she’s pulling someone else up with her other arm.” That is probably the greatest compliment a friend can give to another.

I thought about the concept of paying it forward. How awesome is it to do good deeds and not worry about getting anything back. Just do what you want to do without keeping score, drawing boundaries and worrying about it. I’ve always struggled with setting boundaries and being able to say no. This is not the same thing though. This is about being the best person you can be without borders and rules.

I love Oprah!

Have I mentioned that I love Oprah! She is truly a gift to this generation and we are lucky to have her. She said that she was the same person on stage and off stage. I thought about that too and if I ever try to be someone I am not. I realized that was only the case when I tried to be “normal” and not intuitive. Then I thought, what’s normal anyway? We are all intuitive beings. We are all spiritual, it’s just whether we decide to tap into that or not.

Your thoughts … I’d love to hear them

I feel like this is a conversation that is still going on. I’d love to hear your thoughts on it and what is your truth. You may leave a comment below, email me to mary@marysalfi.com or find me on Facebook by becoming a fan of marysalfi.com

Loving this Lifeclass series!
Mary

Believe so that you can see...

I didn’t know Oprah had her own TV network! I truly feel that Oprah has enriched my life in a tremendous way. I never was a person who had to be home when her show was on just to watch it. However, I did watch it when it was convenient and I always learned so much from her.

Asking for guidance

I’ve been asking for some guidance from God lately. I feel extremely fulfilled that my family is complete. I do feel though that I have a purpose that is bigger and outside of the home. I felt that doing readings and classes was awesome and I’m wondering if that’s where my destiny lies or is it in something else. Any time I’m in a pondering state, I up my meditations and I start asking for signs to be shown to me.

I was on Facebook the other day when I saw something about Oprah having a new series called Lifeclass on her network. It immediately caught my eye and taped Wednesday night’s show. The show was essentially discussing The Law of Attraction. The Law of Attraction basically says if you believe it, then it will come. You have to believe above all.

Believing before seeing

It was intriguing to see Jim Carrey on there. She had a clip on there from a previous show where he had mentioned that he would sit in his car and imagine all these great things coming to him way before he was famous. He said that it made him feel better to imagine that all these producers and film makers were interested in him.

He also wrote himself a check for $10 million dollars and gave himself three years to have that come true. He said that a few weeks before the three years was up, he was offered $10 million to make “Dumb and Dumber”.

A few weeks ago, a few of my wonderful girlfriends had a party for me to celebrate Mia’s arrival. It was really a great way to realize that the grief and worry are over, the journey is complete. Although it was a tremendously difficult journey, the end result is fantastic. It was truly a celebration. I bought each of them a gift to say thank you for a great night. The book I picked up for them was called “Believe”. The book emphasized that you have to believe in something before you can see it.

Mia was the result of my believing!

I really did that with Mia. Despite all the heartache, grief and anxiety, I believed there was one more baby out there and she was coming. I had a doctor tell me that it was crazy for me to consider having another child. I had a few readings that were all over the place.

It really didn’t matter what I heard or didn't hear, deep down, I knew. I knew that Mia was coming. I took a picture of my boys around Christmas 2009 and I could see the silhouette of another child between the boys. I never stopped believing despite anything I heard.

Getting back on track

Sometimes though that belief gets rattled and we have to get it back on track. I feel that way with my life purpose. I feel that when I was on more of a spiritual path, times were a lot tougher. I realize that I have linked the two.

I know that I have fear of stepping back into doing readings and classes, but at the same time, I feel drawn to that. I probably should start with accepting that the two paths didn’t have anything to do with one another. I was most likely going to have three pregnancy losses no matter where I was in my life and no matter what I was doing.

Your thoughts … I’d love to hear them

You may leave a comment below, email me to mary@marysalfi.com or find me on Facebook by becoming a fan of marysalfi.com

It's obvious that the sign for me is to believe!
Mary