You must always face your problems. In order to overcome whatever obstacles are in your way, you must address the problem. Problems happen to all of us, and there is seldom a time in our lives when we can say that we are free of them.

While it is true that we must always face our problems, there is a difference between facing a problem and dwelling on it. When you are dwelling on the problem, you are basically reliving an old situation and re-creating every emotions and personal hardships you faced at that time. To dwell on the problem is really a negative thing to do because it really just creates more and more of the original problem. This is the case because while dwelling on the problem, you are not able to see the solution. Solutions can only be attained by seeing outside the problem and this cannot be done if all you’re doing is just concentrating on the problem and not allowing your mind to see things in a  ‘broadness view’; this is required in order to see beyond this problem to the solution.

To face the problem means that you are acknowledging that something went wrong but that you are aware of the fact that you will not find a solution by focusing strictly on the problem. To face the problem properly you first need to take on an objective stance, where you see the problem or whatever negative situation might have occurred, as a spectator watching a performance and not as an actor participating in that performance. The subtle difference here lies in the fact that you must remove yourself from the situation by no longer seeing yourself as being part of the situation. In this way you can look, at whatever problem or situation, from a distance and therefore not be affected emotionally by what has occurred. With this ‘objective perspective’, you should be able to see many things that led to this problem and in this way find solutions.

Secondly you must also let yourself feel some of the emotions that this problem has caused you. The reason for this is that these emotions are not your enemy, they are really allies that will help you to investigate your inner perceptions and will help you find out exactly why this problem manifested itself in the first place. Any emotion that is explored becomes an incredible helping force that gives you the energy needed to go deeply into your conscious awareness; you can then find the reason for the problem, and intuit solutions to overcome it.

Next time that you have a negative emotion, when you are reliving an old problem, realize that this emotion is really an ally that is here to help you. A good way to use emotions to solve problems is to slowly allow yourself to experience these emotions while you are reliving the problem from an objective  and somewhat detached point of view. In this way you can control how much emotion you feel and can then use these emotions as a type of fuel for your introspections. Like I have stated before; the simplest way to use these emotions is simply to just ask yourself “why?” as you experience them. This simple question will allow you to backtrack and to discover your personal beliefs in this situation. By understanding your beliefs you begin to become aware of a broader perspective and the reasons why this problem came to fruition in the first place. While reliving these emotions you might also find yourself experiencing certain flashes or insights that could give you great clues as to how to overcome this problem now and in the future.

There is no way to move forward until you face a problem. If you do not face the problem it will always be there, either haunting you or re-manifesting itself and creating new problems for you. The need to overcome a problem is paramount in moving forward in your life. If you are not able to do this you will not be able to move forward, and quite possibly, you will just segment yourself off from certain activities and thoughts because of your fear of experiencing these problems in the future.

Face your problems and gain personal strength. Once you realize that facing problems greatly increases your self-esteem, and when you realize also that any negative emotions that you might feel as you face these problems are just allies there to help you, you will find that facing problems is actually quite a positive thing. By facing problems you feel powerful and not powerless, as a result you become happier and have therefore cycled completely around, and in this way have turned a negative into a positive.

We all naturally seek more happiness in our lives. I suppose you could say that life and living is really a struggle for pleasure; where most organisms seem to seek pleasure and stay away from pain. We to tend to classify what we consider to be good as pleasure and what we consider to be bad as pain. It is the case then that we seek happiness because happiness usually means that we are accomplishing what we want, and getting the things that we desire from life.

In our modern consumer age most of the things that bring us happiness tend to be things that we buy. It is also the case that we qualify these material things through price, where things that are more expensive, are supposedly higher quality, and therefore tend to bring us more happiness. Basically the more expensive the thing is that happier it tends to make us. This does skew our definition of happiness, where we believe that the only way to truly be happy is to be very wealthy. To a great extent this is a delusion created by our consumer society, by a market that is interested in getting us to purchase as much as possible for the highest price.

Most of the things that we want then are expensive. We all believe that true happiness comes by being a millionaire and being able to afford giant villas and drive incredibly expensive cars. This consumer front, propagated by corporate greed, has even skewed our personal relations. It is a well-known fact, expounded by consumer propaganda, that the best way to show your love to a woman is to buy her an expensive diamond. Children and adults tend to judge their status, and therefore their happiness, by the kind of goods that they have access to. If you have the most expensive cell phone and are wearing top-of-the-line shoes then you are happy, because as we are all told, this is the epitome of status, freedom, and personal power.

It must be understood though that even the rich are not happy if they do not understand what true happiness is all about. Tabloids are full of stories about the troubles and hardships of the very rich and famous. Their money does not insulate them from relationship problems, self-esteem problems, and the desire to be truly loved. Wealth is therefore no assurance of happiness; it might relieve some problems and make some things a lot easier but it also serves to create new problems.

True happiness then cannot be bought, it must be found through other means. I am not saying that you should stop trying to become wealthy, or that you should give up on your dreams. What I’m trying to say here is that while wealthy is a good thing and can provide many of the things that you might want in your life, in order to be truly happy you must look beyond money and prestige.

True happiness, as Nietzsche said, comes from power. To be more precise happiness comes from a feeling of personal power, it comes from a feeling of freedom, and from not feeling powerlessness. The best way to attain this kind of happiness is to become more yourself; by paying attention to your own needs and by always trying to grow as much as possible as an individual. The world in general does not like individuals; the world loves to impress upon you the need for you to conform to the herd and the safety that can be found in just being one of the crowd. Personal power then is developed through the personal awareness needed to identify your own needs and desires, and through the courage needed to implement whatever is required in order to do what you want. When you’re being truly yourself, you will feel happy; this kind happiness cannot be bought, and while you can gain some confidence through wealth, this kind of internal power can only be attained through personal growth and personal perseverance.

Once you have the personal power spoken of above, you will be free. Free to experience fully all the love, laughter, and passions in your life. Freedom from external influence and strong enough to pursue your ideals. You can then create the freedom that you need in order to truly begin to experience your life. You can’t buy happiness, but you can develop it through personal growth.

Hypnosis is defined as; an artificially induced trance state resembling sleep, characterized by a heightened susceptibility to suggestion.

Hypnosis then is one way to go into trance. It is good to be clear on the fact that hypnosis is not trance but just one way to attain trance. Why this is important is because, in personal change, trance is very important while hypnosis is just one method of attaining this most important state.

Hypnosis essentially requires a hypnotist. The hypnotist basically becomes a guiding force for the patient and becomes an authoritative figure that leads to patient’s consciousness into a desired state. This is a very powerful way to achieve a trance state but it does have some flaws.

First of all, hypnosis takes it for granted that in order to hypnotize someone you need to have them go into a lethargic sleep like state. Now if the ultimate outcome of  hypnosis is attaining a trance state, then you must realize that you do not need to going to a sleep like state to get there. a trance state can also be achieved through great excitation, this can be seen when you witness an athlete performing a difficult physical task or when you see people achieve ecstatic states while dancing.

Hypnosis also tends to function much better with a hypnotist. It is possible to get yourself into a self hypnosis state, but these states are usually weaker than anything that can be achieved with the hypnotist. Now this is the case because you are following hypnotic procedure in order to try and achieve a trance. You can though achieve a trance by yourself that is far stronger than anything that you can achieve through self hypnosis. Trance states therefore are far easier to achieve than self hypnosis.

There is great contention as to who can be hypnotized. Many experts believe that only highly suggestible people can become hypnotized, that there is a large number of people out there that cannot be hypnotized or that some people cannot be put into a hypnotic trance that is very strong. While this might or might not be true, it is fact that anyone can go into a trance state. A trance state can best be defined as a complete focus of the consciousness on one object or subject. So any time that you are completely focused on one thing, and you are ignoring or not aware of everything else around you, you are any trance state.

Why are trance states so important? They are important because they are the best way possible to implant a belief into your subconscious. In order to do this you focus your mind completely on your desired belief or thought. The trance is achieved when you are able to focus your mind completely on this thought or belief to the exclusion of everything else. Another way to say this is that any thought or belief that you are able to maintain in your mind while in a state of complete mental silence, becomes a command to your subconscious. In this way you are able to consciously program yourself by correctly affecting your subconscious beliefs and actions.

There are two major ways to achieve trance. The first that we have mentioned is the one taken by the hypnotist; this is achieved by getting yourself into a very relaxed, almost sleep like state, where through complete body relaxation you are able to focus your conscious mind on a single goal. The other method which I briefly mentioned is through excitation; this trance state is achieved by getting yourself in an incredibly excited state. A trance state achieved through excitation can be achieved through great physical stress for example. Native people of the world can be seen attaining these types of trances through drumming, dancing, and wild agitation.

The fact of the matter is though that there is no need to go into either extremes to create a trance like state that is most useful. You can for example create the perfect trance state while being completely awake and not gyrating to the drumbeats of jungle rhythms. In order to do this all you have to do is train yourself to focus completely on one thought or desire. In order to develop the kind of concentration that you need, I suggest you read the article Learn The Power of Concentration.

By knowing that the active ingredient of hypnosis is trance, and by knowing that a trance can be achieved through many varied methods, which do not need to involve hypnosis, you can begin to create your own methods to achieve trance states that are far simpler and far more powerful. Remember that a trance state is your full and complete mental concentration on one object or idea. As such then you are constantly in different states of trance as you go about your day. Personal trance states are natural to all of us and they can be used by us at any time to help us achieve our goals.

In our lives we all have many goals and we would like to accomplish. There is always one task or another and always a reason why we have to get something done, goal setting therefore is something that we should all take seriously and that we should all strive to become very good at.

Perhaps the best way to accomplish any goal is to write the goal down. By writing a goal down you make it concrete, and this has a wonderful way of enticing your mind and therefore all of the powers that you have access to, to help you accomplish this task.

We can run into problems though when are trying to accomplish goals. Sometimes we set our sights too high or we forget to consider things that are very important. Writing your goals down does help you in being able to examine these goals and take a closer look at them. Once your goals are written down you can take a closer look at what it is that you want to accomplish.

There are also other things that we can do to make sure that the goals that we have set for ourselves are doable. Before you start a goal, consider these questions so that you are able to see whether you have set the bar too high for yourself or whether you have not considered certain important things that might hinder you.

Ask yourself before you start:

Is the goal that I have set specific? When I wrote this goal down, did I write down a specific goal? The more specific you can be about the kind of task that you wish to accomplish, the easier it will be for you to accomplish it. Sometimes people make broad statements like, “I getting a new house”. Without adding any explicit ideas about the specifics of this goal, like; what kind of house, where, when, etc. Always try to make your goal as specific as possible.

Can you measure your goal? If you achieve this goal can you say you have achieved it? Try to make your goals measurable so that you know when they are achieved and how much you have left to achieve them.

Do you think you can actually accomplish your goal? This might seem like a redundant question; that you might try to accomplish something that you don’t think you can accomplish. It is worth considering this point though, and taking time to really think about it. What would it take to accomplish the goal that you have set for yourself. Be honest; can I see myself doing it? Does accomplishing it make me feel good?

Is the goal realistic? After doing a little research, and after finding out a little more as to what it would take to get this done; is your imagination getting the best of you or do you still think that this goal is doable?

Do you have a timeline for your goal? Getting yourself a timeline for your goal is very important. Without a timeline you could spend years thinking about your goal and exactly what you’re going to do without ever really doing a thing. Having a timeline is also very important because it allows you to consider what you need to do and when the best time to do something is.

Are you passionate about the journey towards your goal? It is also very important that you are passionate about accomplishing your goal. If you do not feel any passion or desire towards accomplishing your goal, it will be very hard for you to get yourself to expand the kind of energy that it might take to accomplish your desire. Make sure that the passion for the journey is there or you might not get started at all.

Is the goal natural for you? Do you have natural talent that will help you to accomplish your goal? In other words; is this going to be a cakewalk or are you going to be going uphill all the way?

Do the important people in your life understand your goal? There are goals we wish to accomplish without others getting in the way. There are also goals that are very important that we would like to share with others. Make sure that you realize for yourself how you wish to accomplish this goal. Do you want others to know and get involved? If so; do those people that you care about clearly understand what you are trying to do? Do want to keep this goal quiet and get it done on your own without interference?

Are you ready for the voyage? After putting the goal down on paper and doing a little research into what it might take to get it done, are you ready for the struggles and pleasures of getting this goal accomplished? This is a great question and relates directly to timing, it will allow you to search your feelings and in that way decide when to begin.

By writing your goals down and using the questions above, you will be able to find out for yourself whether the goals that you have set are doable or not. If you can follow this procedure for all the goals that you set for yourself, you will see that accomplishing what you wish to do will be far easier and far more rewarding.

Your first line of defense in tornado weather is always the ability to spot one. If you know one is coming ahead of time then you have more time to be able to find shelter or get out of the region.

All States and Provinces have what is referred to as a “Weather Watch” and this can be further classified into a “Tornado Watch” when the threat becomes high enough. If you live in a tornado prone zone then make sure that you keep track of any kind of weather watch; the reason for this is that certain strong conditions can quickly change into tornado prone weather. If you stay ahead of the game by preparing for a tornado when there is only a severe storm watch, then you will be ahead of the game.

As soon as a “weather watch” of any kind is called, make sure that you stay close to your TV, or radio so that you get up to the minute warnings. The best thing to have is a battery operated weather radio that is small enough so that you can take it wherever you go. The weather reports will keep you advised on the path of the storm, whether the storm has indeed turned into a tornado, and when you can resume regular activity in your area.

Study up on meteorology and learn how to read possible tornado storms. Tornados tend to form when the weather is weirdly hot or humid. The tornado begins because cold and hot air masses collide and create a vortex of contending temperatures. There are often large and unusually strong sudden gusts of air just before a tornado starts. This begins as the two colliding air masses strike each other and begin to exchange energy. Many say that when the sky turns green, it is a sure sign that a tornado is about to be created. Keep an eye out for these odd colorations in the sky as they are portents of fowl storms and tornados.

Any time that you see large or small clouds begin to spin about, take shelter or get out of the area as quickly as you can. If it is raining really hard, it becomes very difficult to see the clouds above. If this is the case then take it for granted that you are in danger and move as quickly as you can to the best shelter that you can find. A spinning mass of clouds can sometimes seem like a large rain storm moving quickly along, in this case look just above and just below the cloud base to see if you can see any spinning movement. If you do see spinning, you are most likely seeing the beginning of a tornado. Even when the clouds seem to be moving around slowly, realize that they are sometimes miles from the center of the storm and are often far more massive then they may appear. Any cloud moving in even a slow vortex means that there is an incredibly powerful core driving this movement.

Tornados can change direction very quickly and move incredibly fast. Even in a fast moving car, you may not be able to outrun them. Stay alert for signs of the tornado so that you never put yourself in a situation where you might be trapped with no place to go. Do not take any chances when confronted with the possibility of a tornado, find shelter as soon as possible. At night keep your ears open and listen for any large thunderous noise. An incoming tornado can sound like a freight train coming straight at you, if you hear this noise then assume you are in the path of a tornado.

To spot a tornado:

• Always keep a battery operated radio with you.
• Stay most vigilant during Tornado season( January to November)
• Watch out for any bad weather condition
• Monitor storms as they may develop tornados
• Check for a green sky
• Be alert to any sudden and unexpected wind gusts
• Check above and below large cloud base for spinning
• Keep an ear open for sounds of a freight train
• ALWAYS, know where the closest shelter is so that you can go to it instantly

Many want to know how they can help others.  They find themselves in a good place in their lives, and they wish to share the wealth that they now have.  Many now are also discovering their spirituality and are seeking a meaningful way to connect with the world.

A great way to learn empathy, is to give of yourself to those that are in need.  Identifying with those that are in need and connecting with them on the spiritual level allows anyone, who takes the time, to discover the brotherhood of man.  This is a way to connect with your heart and to feel the love that binds us all together.

There are many would be volunteer organizations.  There are many amazing groups out there that are doing wonderful things for people, animals, and the environment.  There is no better way that I can think of than to volunteer for one of these great organizations. There are also many ‘Volunteer Vacation’ organizations out there collecting your money to give you the ‘pre-packaged’ volunteer feeing; they make a profit and you feel good supposedly. Make sure that you choose wisely.

But if you are having trouble finding a group or organization to work with, may I suggest a great alternative; I suggest you get a retail job.  Sure this sounds like a joke, but I am being very serious.  It is something that just about anyone can do and it is one of the greatest ways to connect and help others.  There are actually very few things that are as challenging and as enlightening as trying to maintain a retail job and to engage in customers service.  You can usually choose your hours and there’s always a good demand for this kind of work in any large city.  You can use whatever money you make to either donate to a good cause or to help you help others in your family with whatever they might need. Forget about sales quotas and silly corporation demands on you, and truly just try your best to help another human being in the best way that you can.

In this retail jobs, try to truly be helpful to others.  Try to give them the very best service that you can, doing the very best that you can do, in anything that you do for the customer.  Try to be empathic so that you can do for them what they really need in the best way that you can.  Look around and make sure that you do not ignore anyone and that you see anyone before you as a person that needs your help.

Be patient.  A retail job is a difficult thing, many believe that a retail sales person can be talked down to, that they are there to be used.  This requires great sobriety, patience, and personal control on your part.  You will be required to see beyond the petty person that stands before you and to have the patience and loving nature to be able to help them in the face of difficult circumstances.  Depending on where you work, you will need to learn all of the requirements that are needed to be a good and loving soul.

Always send others good energy.  Be a source of loving kindness, open your heart then even to the most demanding people.  Opening your heart when faced with such difficult individuals is truly a monumental task, it requires a kind of growth that many find difficult, even those wishing to take on a life of spirituality and kindness.  Send love and light from your heart to all those that you help and all those that enter whatever store you work at.

Many believe that they must travel around the world to find a place where they can help others.  But this is not the case, you can find some of the most challenging environments in the world just a few blocks from your house.  If you believe that these people require less help than the poor in other areas, then I suggest that you take more time to study your spiritual beliefs.  All people require your loving kindness, the loving heart makes no judgment, to help one individual completely with all your heart is powerful no matter where you are or what you are doing.  If you are interested in opening your heart and helping others, then I suggest that you take a retail job and try one of the most challenging spiritual experiences that you will ever have.