I am still so very sad to think of all the lives lost in Sandyhook, CT last week. I lit an extra candle and said a prayer while at Mass this past Sunday and also and expanded my practice of Metta for all those families that are suffering in Connecticut. I hope that their deep grieving is as brief but as long as it needs to be. I don’t know if I could ever really get over the loss of my child if I were one of those parents.

While saying prayers, lighting candles and meditating are simple things I can do from a distance…one may ask, how is that going to help. Well first off, I do believe in the power of prayer and sending good thoughts via meditation to people. But if that’s not your thing, I can appreciate that. What you or I can do though, is realize that these horrible things happen for a number of reasons and that what we can do, from a practical sense, is ensure that everyone around us feels love and compassion. There was obviously a sickness in this person’s heart to do such a horrible thing. Make sure you tell your kids you love them, when someone needs to feel loved or understood, be the person to remind them of the goodness of the human spirit…so they may not loose hope.

Here is a post I made on Facebook the morning that I heard the news. I was just about to send an email to a client of mine when I had to pause and reflect…I just couldn’t bring myself to do any business for the rest of the day or the weekend and just spend time with my family. Each moment is a blessing… Life is short, don’t wait to tell the people you care about how much you love and appreciate them.

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So incredibly sad to hear the news today of so many innocent lives lost.

Please join me in sending thoughts and prayers to those that knew and loved them…they are the ones suffering today.

And also to remember those that have to work on this scene…and their families…it may impact them for some time as well.

May they find peace again.

May they not loose the love of humanity.

May they find hope again.

Today my family will be getting more hugs than usual as I am reminded how lucky I am to have every moment with them.

I also encourage you to understand that in order to rid the world of these tragedies we must look inside. We must do as Gandhi said and be the change in the world we want to see. If you have fear, anger or ill will…please release it. Not just for your own good and those immediately around you, but for the sake of the world. The sense of love, peace and forgiveness has to begin with you…there is no other way.

And to all of my family, friends and acquaintances on here, I love you…

May you have peace.

May you not loose hope.

May you have happiness.

My Thoughts and Prayers for all those in CT is a post from: Sean Mitchell

So I was online in a community forum of sorts the other day trying to be helpful and someone asked the question of ‘what is the goal of ____ and Vipassana meditation’ I thought I’d share with you one of the best sources on the topic…this is for those of you out there that, like myself, have found a love of a daily meditation practice:

“”Liberation can be gained only by practice, never by mere discussion,” S. N. Goenka has said. A course in Vipassana meditation is an opportunity to take concrete steps towards liberation. In such a course the participant learns how to free the mind of the tensions and prejudices that disturb the flow of daily life. By doing so one begins to discover how to live each moment peacefully, productively, happily. At the same time one starts progressing towards the highest goal to which mankind can aspire: purity of mind, freedom from all suffering, full enlightenment.”

Source: http://www.vridhamma.org/The-Discourse-Summaries

What I find cool about Vipassana is it is open to everyone and doesn’t require you to be Buddhist or any other religion…just come as you are and try it out. Pretty cool and open if you ask me.

Now if all the terminology and depth of the Vipassana stuff is too much for you or you’re not into any ‘brand’ of meditation techniques… another one I really dig is this book that a friend turned me onto called “Mindfulness in Plain English”

The title is wonderfully direct and is exactly what the book is about. It’s probably one of the best explanations on ‘mindful mediation’ that I’ve come across.

Ok, that’s my share for the day. I hope you all are having an awesome day.

And Happy Holidays to each and every one of you. I hope you’re enjoying the spirit of the season and spending some quality time with friends and family.

Vipassana Meditation is a post from: Sean Mitchell

So it’s almost Thanksgiving. Just wanted to update the website and wish all of you a very Happy Thanksgiving.

I love this season as it gives us reason to remember all the things that we should be grateful for. Our health, our family, our friends, our experiences in life, the ability to help and share with others, etc…

One of the things I’m grateful for is being able to enjoy this little slice of heaven that I live in with my family when we take hikes around the county. Here’s a shot I took just this past weekend while hiking in Morro Bay.

One of the 7 Sisters in Morro Bay, California

Wishing you and yours the best holiday season.

So Many Things to Be Thankful For is a post from: Sean Mitchell

Thanks to all the vets out there serving today…and to those that have served in the past. Let us also thank their families for enduring all that they had to deal with while their loved ones were serving.

I was lucky enough to have been able to serve in the US Air Force for a little over 12 years and they were some of the best times of my life. I got to be deployed all over the world and have so many great memories and life experiences as a result.

Here are two pictures I found recently that captured some of the places I got to visit while serving:

This one is from August of 1990, a few months before I got to deploy to Desert Storm:

While I’m in a flight suit here, I did not fly jets…I was just lucky to get a ride in one while deployed.

Aviano AB, Italy – August 1900

Here is one of me while I was deployed to Riyadh in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia. In that hookah pipe is tobacco and dried fruit…they call it sheesha.

Happy Veterans Day is a post from: Sean Mitchell

So not long ago I found out I have diabetes. At first I was like, ok I’ll just have to take some insulin or whatever, but after reading up a bit on it it turns out you can actually die from this disease. Ok, so a little more serious than a cold to say the least.

Of course this was a bit of a shock, but life seems to throw these challenges at you from time to time. This along with my mother recently passing gave me a good reason to ask myself some big life questions.

Am I living the life I want to?

And if not, why not?

Turns out that these challenges have turned out to be a blessing as it has fueled my desire to possibly go back to school or redefine what I do with my life. How can I help more people? What am I deeply passionate about?

All great questions and I’m getting pretty close to having these answers. But would I have ever asked myself these questions without these recent life issues? Sure, sometime I probably would have, but I’m glad it happened now and not when I’m 80 years old.

Another hidden blessing is that I’ve always been interested in the health and healing world…and quite interested in the ‘live food’ (raw) movement for helping people with their issues. I’m going to increase my exercise levels and give this program a whirl (a light version of Dr Max Gerson’s therapy) and currently reading Dr Cousen’s book on a 21 day program to cure/reverse diabetes. I will also continue my practice of meditation and prayer, and in 3 months when I’m retested, I expect my numbers should be much better than the last time they were taken. Of course this is not medical advice to anyone reading this…I am not a doctor, nor do I play one on TV and I will be working with my doc on this issue. 2 thumbsup

Just wanted to post and remind those of you that might be reading this. All of life’s challenges can be a blessing if you choose to look at it from a different perspective.

Peace

Sometimes we just have to look through the clouds.

Look through the clouds

Life’s Challenges is a post from: Sean Mitchell

“The person born with a talent they are meant to use will find their greatest happiness in using it.” – Johann Wolfgang von Goethe

Isn’t life an interesting adventure. Personally I’ve been having fun exploring more deeply what my talents and passions are in life (due to some recent health issues). Don’t worry, nothing major, but enough to make you think deeply about life.

I encourage you to find your passion, blend it with your talents and make the world a better place.

I have to say there is freedom in this and you don’t have to wait to ask yourself these deep questions and begin today.

Today is the best time to give life your all.

As an old Chinese proverb says: “The best time to plant a tree is 20 years ago, the second best time is now.”

Your Talents & Your Passion is a post from: Sean Mitchell

“To affect the quality of the day, that is the highest of arts.” – Henry David Thoreau

So I wanted to start this post out with a nice quote that got me thinking earlier today. I recently had plans to redesign this site, and am still looking for a design I really like, but for now this will do the job. This reminds me, that in life, in projects, etc…start where you are. Don’t wait for something to be perfect to get into action. You have skills, talents and resources. Use what you got and move forward. Affect the quality of your day, every day, in moving yourself towards where you want to be in life.

Labor Day weekend came and went and it was awesome. I hope you had a great one as well. In parting I’ll leave you with this photo I took on my iPhone a summer ago. I’m sad to see summer go, but am looking forward to fall. I have more excellent weather and wonderful scenery to look forward to.

A View of Life

The Quality of The Day is a post from: Sean Mitchell

Hope you all are having an awesome weekend. Here is a shot from one of my favorite spots at Shell Beach.

Sunset at Shell Beach is a post from: Sean Mitchell

So I just got my first view inside of Pinerly.  Looks interesting as it allows for campaign creation and apparently some analytics/tracking which ought to be interesting.

Anyone else out there using this?

Pinerly – An Inside View is a post from: Sean Mitchell

So you’ve been told to interact on all the major social media spots…but you would love the option to just publish from one location.

Running around and spending TONS of time on each of the major players like Facebook, Twitter, Pinterest, Google +1, etc…

Is at a minimum time consuming and often a painful thing to consider.

What if I told you I have a solution!?

I’m not going to tell you to NOT play on these sites directly, but wouldn’t it be nice to occasionally just send a post out from one spot?!

If you’re interested in this type of action, just enter your name in the opt-in email form over there on the right and I’ll let you know when I release this training product.  I expect to have it finished by the end of next week.

It’s taken me a while to fully test this and I think I have the final system ready to go.

Take care and have an awesome rest of the day!

Sean

Social Syndication is a post from: Sean Mitchell