Susan Dunn, MA Clinical Psychology, The EQ Coach

Lorna Ramsay and her husband, David, live in Scotland and run the TOP-SET Incident Investigation System ( http://www.TOP-SET.com ). They teach how to investigate industrial accidents all over the world, for high-hazard industries as well as the emergency services and the medical sector.

They and the TOP-SET team also go into the field to investigate for clients all over the world, and teach engineers who work in nuclear plants, the oil and gas, explosives and other high hazard industries, how to stay safe by using their intuition.

The most rewarding outcome of their work is the companies find that being humanitarian affects their bottom line. What they learn through TOP-SET saves lives, increases business performance, enhances the companys reputation, increases profitability, complies with regulation, and prevents and predicts similar occurrences. And it also affects employee morale and attitude.

When an employer sends his or her managers to our seminars, says Lorna, they know the company cares about them. What we teach and were educators, not trainers spills over in other areas of the workplace. TOP-SET is a thinking system. We teach our clients to investigate, i.e., to think their way through what is really a complex problem. Were problem-solvers. And once you can analyze what happened, and learn from it, you can prevent and eventually predict.

HOW DO THEY TEACH INTUITION?

Go back to when you were in an unfamiliar situation, says Lorna. Think of how a dog or child behaves. When my dog runs down to the beach in the morning and sees a rubbish bag, shell sniff, circle it, even bare her teeth until shes sure its safe. Well thats what these engineers need to learn how to do, to ’sense’ when something has changed.

When youre working in a high-hazard industry, she says, if you go into a work situation, and theres something coming at you that makes you feel funny - an almost imperceptible smell, a feeling, in an explosive factory it could be a change in humidity - just some change that you sense, rather than see, dont ignore it. If you get a gut feeling something isnt right, pay attention to that, act on that. Intuition can be honed by just practicing and noticing.

CHANGE PROFICIENCY

We help companies move forward and innovate in a time of perpetual change; TOP-SET is specifically a thinking system, a key to investigating accidents, to solving that particular type of problem. But the companies often ask us to assist them in thinking their way through other issues, to help them create, and to innovate. Lorna says.

Weve found when a company is honestly investigating an incident, and the regulatory bodies are aware of that, then theyre less likely to prosecute. The most important thing, though, is that employees feel valued and cared about when such attention is paid to their safety. And it works. Its now safer to be on an oil rig than in your own home.

A practical application for emotional intelligence with many positive outcomes.

Susan Dunn, http://www.susandunn.cc , The EQ Coach. To learn more about Top-set/Incident Investigation System, go here: http://www.top-set.com . For free incident/accident investigation advice, go here: http://www.top-set.com/freesadvice.shtml

Perhaps the most heartbreaking casualties of recent stock market performance are the 20 state-sponsored college tuition pre-payment plans throughout the country. With college costs continuing to grow at a pace of about 9% per year and investment returns on plan assets being flat or negative, the sponsors of the various prepaid tuition programs now project long-term cash shortages.

Investors in the program thought that they had purchased paid up tuition credits under the program, regardless of the future rise in tuition costs. But now states anticipate notifying investors hat the plan cannot meet its projections, and so the investors must pay up by making additional investments or bail out of the program. Colorado has already notified investors of the default and other states anticipate similar actions in the future. Other states are considering more creative options. Most plans agree that the growth of plan assets will not keep pace with college tuition inflation over the next decade.

Investors are irked because they thought that these plans represented a guarantee backed up by the sponsoring state and are shocked to learn that this is not the case.

Of course, a recovery of the financial markets will greatly help ease the burden, but many investment advisers do not expect that to happen in the near future.

Tony Novak is an independent writer and financial adviser in Narberth PA who provides OnlineAdviser services through MedSave.com and FreedomBenefits.org.

Since early 2001, I have been living a dream–a vision–that surfaced from using my intuition. By tuning into my inner guidance, I was able to build a national organization for women writers in just over 4 years that currently has over 11,000 newsletter subscribers and over 2,700 members (as of 2005). When I first came up with the idea to start the National Association of Women Writers (NAWW), I was a suburban mother of three small children who had a somewhat bold dream to connect and support other women writers like myself.

Intuition can be defined as a quick and ready insight. This insight can steer you on a correct path, warn you of danger, and/or connect you to your creativity. In Shakti Gawain’s book, Developing Intuition, she describes how “the most successful people are often very intuitive. Consciously or unconsciously, they follow their gut feelings. Following intuition puts us in the flow–a very alive, productive, and desirable state.”

Developing your intuition allows you the ability to not have to look to others to give you strength or to teach you what they know. Using your intuition allows you the ability to look internally, find the answers and the strength to be bold and act on your inner guidance.

Accessing your intuition is like many other creative activities you might engage. As you string together words or put paint on a canvas, you must listen and pay attention to these mental insights. They allow you to keep moving forward. The more you trust these insights, the more your craft will improve. Of course, you must add liberal amounts of perseverance and some organizational skills as well, but the end results will pay off as you see your dreams and goals come to fruition.

Following are five suggestions for developing and accessing your intuition so that you may find, follow, and fulfill your dream! Continually use these techniques to make decisions and reach goals.

ONE: REFLECT ON LESSONS ALREADY LEARNED

You must reflect to process information. In February 2000, I had just given birth to my third child and finished my MA in Organizational Management. At 30 years old, I was at a crossroad and in a position to finally pursue a career I loved. I just had to figure out what it was. For seven months I read about and researched different subjects that I was interested in, such as women’s issues, writing, and business startups. I journaled a great deal during this time, reflecting on the past and looking towards the future. I came to understand through this process that I wanted to use my social work experience, my love of writing, and my organizational management skills. While intuition led me during those months to make these decisions, journaling helped me to document the insights and focus along the way.

TWO: GET BACK TO NATURE

Developing your intuition requires the absence of chaos. It is impossible to fully listen to this inner guidance with all the interruptions that occur in our lives. To tune in to your intuition, to succeed, you have to get away from the chaos. For me, I jog or walk outside at least 30 minutes each day. Nature provides me with just the right sounds and scenery for my intuitive senses to come alive. I make this activity a priority in my life because this quiet time calms my soul, supports my creativity, and gives me the mental space I need to tune into my inner yearnings. I have used my “getting back to nature” time for over five years to make crucial business decisions and to figure out many pivotal solutions to roadblocks in my personal and business lives. Nature is the perfect prescription for anything that ails you. Experiencing the solitude that nature provides is a form of meditation that calms the soul and purges the stress from your life.

THREE: TRUST YOURSELF

Understand that most people usually act on impulses and societal cues. Those who slow down and pay attention to their own inner guidance find that they can think clearly and make difficult decisions. When my close friends and family were not supportive of my new dream, they would often say negative things. They honestly weren’t trying to be mean spirited, but simply could not visualize how I could possibly succeed at building an organization from scratch with three small children to care for. Past lessons taught me I was on the right path. I had done enough research and my strengthened intuition faithfully guided me through the difficult times. Another benefit of learning to trust yourself is that you will also nurture your self-confidence and build your self-esteem in the process.

FOUR: BLOCK OUT NEGATIVE THOUGHTS AND PEOPLE

Once you begin to trust yourself, you will inevitably have to start blocking out the negativity of others. Some of this negativity will come from loved ones. It is human nature for people to negate things and events they do not understand or have no personal experience with. Change causes stress and many people subconsciously dismiss new ideas because it makes them feel more comfortable to do so. One of the most important steps you will have to take to reach any goal is to be able to block out and/or redirect negativity. You have to trust yourself to be able to do this. The time you spend in nature will help you to purge the toxic feedback from others out of your mind and out of your life. Everyone that was close to me did not understand nor share in my dream in the beginning. Only after they started to see my dream materialize did they begin to support it. That is why it is essential to block out or at least filter the negativity. Understanding the cause of these behaviors and reactions makes it easier to dismiss them and to follow your own (more in tune) thoughts instead.

FIVE: ACT

The last and most important suggestion I can give you for developing intuition is to be bold and to act on the inner cues that are being sent to you as mental/emotional/spiritual signals or urges. Developing intuition is a cyclical process and, like any other innate talent, you must act on it to further develop it. Often we are drawn to people, subjects, and events through our intuition. I was drawn to establish the NAWW because I like to help people as evidenced by my obtaining a bachelor degree in social work. I have always used writing as a tool to heal and express myself. And lastly, I have always been an entrepreneur–even in the first grade when I made my own address books and sold them at school for 10 cents each. When my intuitive side sent the messages of what to do to start the NAWW, I listened. I acted by researching my competition (other writing associations), by asking my customers (my women writer colleagues) what they wanted, and by building a website and starting the official weekly newsletter. I acted quickly. In less than two months from the moment I conceived the idea of the National Association of Women Writers, the website and newsletter were born. My “baby” continues to grow and mature at a healthy rate.

When you continually use these five suggestions to develop your intuition and to test your inner guidance, you will find that it will become easier to make decisions and to live peacefully with those decisions. Your life won’t automatically become problem-free, but you will begin trusting in the ultimate outcome of events as working in your favor for the future. By filtering through the physical and subliminal cues inside and all around you, you will learn to develop your intuition and succeed.

About the Author

Sheri McConnell is the President of the National Assn. of Women Writers (www.NAWW.org). She helps women writers and entrepreneurs discover, create, and profit from their intellectual knowledge! Free reports available with subscription to NAWW Weekly. Sheri lives in San Antonio, Texas with her husband Seth and their 4 children. Contact her at: naww@onebox.com or her toll free number at 866-821-5829.

Everyone has intuition; it’s hard-wired in us. Everybody wants more intution; it’s a great lifeskill for problem-solving, generating solutions, and making good decisions. It can be developed, but you have to have a certain mindset to develop and strengthen it. These are things NOT to do if you want to become more intuitive.

1. Be in a hurry

2. Have no symbolic ability. Dont participate in or enjoy any of the arts.

3. Be unconcerned about your integrity or purposes in wanting to use intuition.

4. Let your ego run away with you, having to be right, controlling and in charge.

5. Not learn how to differentiate between intuition, fear, and wishful thinking.

6. Hang out with people who don’t believe in intuition, know about it, or use it. Intuition is contagious and so is lack of intuition.

7. Try and invoke your intuition with willpower or force it in any way.

8. Believing that logic, analysis and rational thinking are the only way or best way to solve problems, make decisions and generate solutions.

9. Not being able to still the executive function of your brain–the part that scans, is alert, worries and analyzes.

10. Not getting coaching or teaching so you get feedback on your skills as they develop, learn how to manage your ego, and keep yourself off overload as you learn.

Susan Dunn is a personal and professional development coach, speaker, writer and author and head of a distance learning school. Email her for FREE ezine.

Mark sits at his desk with his eyes closed, pen in hand, apparently deep in thought. Or is he dozing? Actually, he’s about to take a crucial first step in winning a new account.

Holly is on her way to see a potential client when a flash of insight radically changes her strategy for the meeting. An hour later she has a contract for a six-figure account plus a substantial signing bonus.

Mark ponders and Holly has an ah-hah moment. Yet they’re both doing the same thing - they’re checking in with their intuition before making a sales call. Why? They’ve discovered that the insights and promptings they get from their “inner voices” can help them score more sales more easily than when they go it alone.

Make Intuition Your Ally - Intuition is the secret weapon of many successful sales leaders. Ask them about it, though, and they’re likely to describe it as “gut instinct.” Sound familiar? Of course it does, because whether you admit it or not, you’re highly likely to have experienced it yourself, and just as likely to have ignored its messages.

The fact is, everyone receives intuitive information. It’s both a gift and a skill, and the more you practice it the better you get at it. How does your intuition speak to you? Do you receive information in words, feelings, a flash of insight, a gut reaction? Do you simply just know? Roy Rowan, author of a study on intuition, said, “This feeling, this little whisper from deep inside your brain, may contain far more information - both facts and impressions - than you’re likely to obtain from hours of analyzing data.”

Ask Your Intuition Questions - My friend Mark, who you met at the beginning of this article, is a national sales leader in his industry. When I asked him how he explains his success he told me that before he meets with a client he asks his intuition a series of questions such as, “What do I need to know about this company?” “What is the best way to approach the decision maker?” “What should I know about who I’m competing against for this sale?” “What can I do to win this account?” He sits with pen in hand and quiets his thoughts. The answers come to him as he writes. Mark’s competition scratches their heads.

Keep Your “Inner Sales Person” Positive - Pay attention to what you tell yourself about your sales prospects and your life. If your “self-talk” is positive and optimistic your personal and business life will reflect that. Try a simple experiment. Close your eyes and say the following to yourself for about 30 seconds: “I’ll never get ahead. I’m not good at sales. I won’t make my quota this month.” How do you feel? Depressed? Demoralized? Hopeless?

Now do the same experiment and focus on these statements: “Things have a way of working out.” “I’m learning some new skills and things are beginning to change for me.” “Today I’ll take steps that will open up opportunities for more income.” Now how do you feel? Hopeful? Optimistic? More confident? When you’re in this state it’s much easier for you to be open to intuitive messages pointing you to avenues of increased prosperity.

Know Your Gut, Know Your Client - Successfully making the sale requires that you process hundreds of pieces of information subconsciously. You must develop and trust your ability to use your intuition to read between the lines. Do you press a client for the sale, or do you back off and wait? Are they motivated by the lowest price you can offer or is the quality of your product or service the prime impetus for buying from you? Many times, logic and analysis will provide that information. On other occasions, your gut feelings or instincts - your intuition - will provide the answers.

Use the Power of Silence - As any good salesperson will tell you, “Sometimes the best thing to do is ’shut up.’” But there are times when you also need to silence your mind to receive valuable intuitive insight. When you need help making a decision - pause - take a deep breath, reflect on the question and allow the intuitive impressions to come to you. Intuition is often described as “still and quiet.” It doesn’t usually answer in a big, booming voice. It is much subtler. Pay attention to any images you receive, words you hear, physical sensations you experience or emotions you feel. These are all ways that intuition will communicate with you. Write down any impressions you receive. Some people find that intuitive insights will pop into their mind immediately. For others, it may come later in the day when they least expect it.

Make Your Enthusiasm Work for You - Intuition often communicates its message through passion and excitement. The root of the word enthusiasm comes from the Greek, entheos. It literally means, “God within.” If a sales strategy or decision leaves you feeling drained or bored, that’s a clear message from your “inner guidance” saying, “Don’t go there.” Conversely, if you feel energized and enthusiastic, your intuition is giving you the green light to continue with your plan of action.

Envision Your Success - Spend time each day imagining your ideal life. Envision the details of that life. Imagine you are living it now. What are you wearing? What are you feeling? Who are the people around you? We are often quite clear about what we don’t want. The path to success comes from spending time thinking about what you do want. What does an ideal day, month or year look like to you? Being clear about what you want is often the first step in being able to create it. Successful people visualize their goals and dreams. Your intuition can help you achieve success when you know what you want to achieve.

Write it Down - Many people have great success receiving intuitive information through writing. This technique is similar to brainstorming. Write a series of questions about your choices. Suppose you have to make a decision to fill a position in your company. You might write, “If I hire Mary will the company’s sales increase?” “If I hire her will this be a positive choice? “What are her strengths?” “What are her weaknesses?” When you’ve completed your questions, write the answers quickly just as they come to you. Repeat your intuitive Q&A about each potential employee and then assess the results.

Take the time, make the sale - Be sure to set aside time to routinely check in with your intuition. It won’t be long before you’ll be experiencing faster, stronger and more accurate insights. Though intuition can be described as a secret weapon, there’s no big secret about how to use it. Follow the suggestions I’ve outlined above, and begin now to enjoy the rewards of this powerful competitive advantage.

2003 Lynn Robinson, M.Ed. All rights reserved in all media.
–

Lynn Robinson is one of the nation’s leading experts on intuition. As a business advisor, she provides vital insights on goals, strategies and critical decisions. She is a best-selling author of three books, including Compass of the Soul. Lynn has appeared on Fox Cable News and in The New York Times, USA Today, Boston Globe and Boston Business Journal. Contact: 1-800-925-4002 or www.LynnRobinson.com.

At a time when unemployment is high, personal income is flat, and college-level education is a requirement for most well-paying jobs, U.S. public colleges continue to become less affordable for students and families.

According to a recent report on college affordability from The National Center for Public Policy and Higher Education, state spending for colleges and universities has dropped sharply. The result ? a higher cost for higher education.

Despite serious increases, few states have invested significant financial aid to offset the cost while some have actually decreased student grant aid spending. Today?s families are left to shoulder the worst public, higher education fiscal news in a decade.

However, there is money available for the diligent. Scholarships and grants offered through the private sector are available to help pay increasing tuition cost. Awards, need and merit based, are usually categorized by geographic location, special interest, or major career fields. Since criteria are specific, finding the right award can be tedious- but considering the current economic recession, well worth the effort.

Here?s how to begin a productive grant and scholarship search:

1. Online Search-The Internet has emerged as a key source of scholarship information. The following are a handful of helpful sites.

http://www.wiredscholar.com Wired Scholar has one of the internet?s largest databases of financial aid.

http://www.fastweb.com FastWeb allows you to search 600,000 scholarships worth over $1 billion dollars.

http://www.brokescholar.com The BrokeScholar database matches student profiles with more than 900,000 scholarships worth over $3 billion to find the most relevant and obtainable opportunities. They also feature a personalized deadline calendar.

http://www.collegeboard.com The College Board is a trusted source that offers a search with 2,000 scholarships, internships, and loan programs.

2. Public and School Libraries-While you want to use the Internet for searches; there is a lot of competition. Got to local libraries and check with the reference desk for institutional, and private student aid scholarship directories. Most of the awards listed are duplicated online, but not all. By investing time to thumb through the telephone-directory-sized books you may find one or two the competition will miss.

3. Local Organizations -There is a better chance of winning money from local organizations such as churches, clubs, community groups, and unions since fewer students are likely to apply. Look for local chapters of larger, national organizations that often give money to students living in certain areas.

4. Place of Employment-Employers may also offer grants and scholarships. Inquire at your personnel office. Dependent students should ask their parent or legal guardian to check the availability of awards.

5. Announcements -Keep your eyes open. Take time to read bulletin boards, posters, and articles in newspapers for competition announcements. Some scholarships are episodic and may occur only once.

: Monica Wheeler is a national- award- winning freelance writer, who has helped thousands of parents and students prepare for university admissions. For ?35 Practical Ways to Get Money for College? visit http://www.cashforcollege.bizhosting.com

Are you looking for a better way to gain access to intuitive information? In dowsing, we use the aid of a pendulum to tap into our intuition. Depending on how you program it, your pendulum will give you answers by swinging in certain directions to tell you “yes,” “no,” or “undecided.”

Dowsing is very clear to read. Unlike the tarot, which depends heavily on the interpretation of the reader, dowsing is a method that really doesn’t offer much room for interpretation. Yes means yes and no means no. And learning to dowse takes no time at all! As such, dowsing is an ideal place to start developing a sense for intuitive information. A pendulum allows you to get crystal clear answers through an external source so that you can develop a trust in the validity of the information.

Unfortunately, the very advantage to dowsing - the fact that it is so clear to read - is also what makes it somewhat limiting. We have to ask questions that can be answered with “yes” or “no.” However, with some experience, we can access a wealth of information within this limited medium. The true advantage of dowsing is that it allows you to get a clear sense of your own intuitive knowledge. As you continue dowsing, you will over time start to receive the answers before the pendulum even swings. Before long, you will develop a keen sense of how your inner guidance system works.

All answers from your pendulum really come from your superconscious - from your Higher Self. Your Higher Self is your Soul self. It is the ancient, infinitely wise part of you that was directly created from Source. Your Higher Self is not limited to this present incarnation. It has access to all your lifetimes, past, present and future. It spans dimensions, time and space. Your Higher Self is pure Spirit. This is where the information really comes from.

When you dowse, your Higher Self will connect to your subconscious. This is what actually creates the movement of the pendulum. Consciously, you will not be aware of creating any movement in the pendulum whatsoever. It really is a wonderful thing to watch your pendulum swinging of its own accord! You would swear that you are holding your hand absolutely still, but in truth, your subconscious is creating the subtle movements that create the swing of the pendulum.

Everyone is intuitive. The more you practice, the more your intuition will be available to you. The pendulum is merely the external starting point. As you use it more and more, your focus will shift towards your internal receptors for intuitive information. However, as a good place to start, nothing beats learning how to dowse!

About the Author

Andrea Hess is an intuitive consultant working with spiritual seekers who want practical, accurate information about their life path and purpose. You may visit her site at www.andreahess.com for a detailed mini-course on dowsing, or a free Sample Reading.
Intuition is the divine ability to connect with our inner self. It is the part of us that knows the answers to questions before they are even asked. However in our society, we seem to have decided that it is far better to be reasonable and logical. Have we not yet learned that the two should be in loving relationship to one another and not in competition? By joining the forces of logic and intuition, one can even enhance their safety from one of the most damaging criminal acts-sexual assault.

Sexual assault is non-consensual sexual contact. Women, men and children of all ages can be victimized by sexual assault. A rapist may be a stranger, acquaintance, or relative. In 1998, the U.S. Department of Justice, Bureau of Statistics reported that roughly 18% or 17.7 million women had experienced rape or attempted rape at some point in their lifetime.

Most people are more at risk of being assaulted by people who know them. Between 70-80% of all sexual assaults occur at the hands of someone that the victim knows. By nurturing our intuition with awareness we can help others and ourselves to enhance their safety:

Be aware that that it can happen to you or someone you love. Ignoring the reality may further increase the risk.

Be aware that someone may attempt to disrupt your intuitive flow by asking you a question or providing you with information. Often strangers will ask a question like Excuse me, do you know what time it is? “How do I get to route 301 from here? or say something like It sure is hot out here! Your purse is open. Your ride is here. When you allow yourself to begin thinking only, you are not connected to the discomfort of being in the presence of someone you do not know. Maintain a balance of intuition and reasoning.

Be aware of the discomfort that comes with being alone with a person that you do not know well. In the absence of intuition, we tell ourselves that nothing will happen or that we are being silly. Our inner self is right when it informs us that it may take quite awhile before we should feel comfortable enough to trust another person enough to be alone with them.

Be aware that it is dangerous to leave your beverages unattended if you are in the company of persons you do not know and trust well whether male or female.

Trust the voice of your core if you are getting a message that someone is being too controlling. Be aware that it is not safe to be in a position that causes you to be dependent upon another person. Carry a well-charged cell phone and always know whom you can call in a jam.

When communicating your limits and boundaries speak from the core. Speak clearly in short concise statements. Polite statements may be ignored. Make it clear that your decision is not up for discussion.

Be aware that many victims will never share their painful secret with those who might expect that they would. Reassure the people in your life care about that they can come to you if the unfortunate happens and someone assaults them. Children and other loved ones should be assured that you will not blame them and they will not be in trouble if they share secrets with you. Take the time to educate yourself about sexual assault and the effects on the victims, you may need it sooner than you realize.

Be aware that many victims will never share their painful secret with those who might expect that they would. Right now is the time to talk to your loved ones who will be attending college. Maintain ongoing communication with young men as well as young women about safe behavior. Encourage young men to educate themselves about consent and remind them to follow their intuition and not be lured into supporting jokes or situations in which someone may be assaulted.

These points of awareness may help to reduce your risk of sexual assault but may not entirely prevent this violent crime from occurring. It is important to keep in mind that the offender is always to blame and that sexual assault is never the fault of the survivor. No one asks or deserves to be sexually assaulted. If the unfortunate does happen, be aware that help is available.

Sexual assault is non-consensual sexual contact. Women, men and children of all ages can be victimized by sexual assault. A rapist may be a stranger, acquaintance, or relative. In 1998, the U.S. Department of Justice, Bureau of Statistics reported that roughly 18% or 17.7 million women had experienced rape or attempted rape at some point in their lifetime.

Most people are more at risk of being assaulted by people who know them. Between 70-80% of all sexual assaults occur at the hands of someone that the victim knows. By nurturing our intuition with awareness we can help others and ourselves to enhance their safety:

Be aware that that it can happen to you or someone you love. Ignoring the reality may further increase the risk.

Be aware that someone may attempt to disrupt your intuitive flow by asking you a question or providing you with information. Often strangers will ask a question like Excuse me, do you know what time it is? “How do I get to route 301 from here? or say something like It sure is hot out here! Your purse is open. Your ride is here. When you allow yourself to begin thinking only, you are not connected to the discomfort of being in the presence of someone you do not know. Maintain a balance of intuition and reasoning.

Be aware of the discomfort that comes with being alone with a person that you do not know well. In the absence of intuition, we tell ourselves that nothing will happen or that we are being silly. Our inner self is right when it informs us that it may take quite awhile before we should feel comfortable enough to trust another person enough to be alone with them.

Be aware that it is dangerous to leave your beverages unattended if you are in the company of persons you do not know and trust well whether male or female.

Trust the voice of your core if you are getting a message that someone is being too controlling. Be aware that it is not safe to be in a position that causes you to be dependent upon another person. Carry a well-charged cell phone and always know whom you can call in a jam.

When communicating your limits and boundaries speak from the core. Speak clearly in short concise statements. Polite statements may be ignored. Make it clear that your decision is not up for discussion.

Be aware that many victims will never share their painful secret with those who might expect that they would. Reassure the people in your life care about that they can come to you if the unfortunate happens and someone assaults them. Children and other loved ones should be assured that you will not blame them and they will not be in trouble if they share secrets with you. Take the time to educate yourself about sexual assault and the effects on the victims, you may need it sooner than you realize.

Be aware that many victims will never share their painful secret with those who might expect that they would. Right now is the time to talk to your loved ones who will be attending college. Maintain ongoing communication with young men as well as young women about safe behavior. Encourage young men to educate themselves about consent and remind them to follow their intuition and not be lured into supporting jokes or situations in which someone may be assaulted.

These points of awareness may help to reduce your risk of sexual assault but may not entirely prevent this violent crime from occurring. It is important to keep in mind that the offender is always to blame and that sexual assault is never the fault of the survivor. No one asks or deserves to be sexually assaulted. If the unfortunate does happen, be aware that help is available.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

PR Inside - Paul Wrubel, a college funding advisor, has provided college tuition funding with schools and service organizations wishing to create college support programs For more information or assistance with ExpertSource, please contact Stacey Frank
Source: www.pr-inside.com

Bush Gives Boost to Pell Grant Program
UCSD Guardian - benefit lower- to middle-income students struggling to afford skyrocketing tuition Director Vincent De Anda said. They ll be forced to consolidate their programs income students obtain Pell Grants if they can t receive the necessary assistance
Source: ucsdguardian.org

The International School of Choueifat Cairo
Egypt Today - Tuition runs to $3,950 per semester for pre-kindergarten, $6,075 per semester for Students can pursue IGCSE AS and A level programs, or an American high school CAC and Ecole L Oasis de Maadi depend on the Arab Academy for language assistance.
Source: www.egypttoday.com

Former meth addict shares experience
Billings Gazette - support groups for parents and evolved into helping provide assistance to those who can’t afford treatment for their children in crisis, including help with tuition People who are close to graduating treatment and other programs attend Kids
Source: www.billingsgazette.net

Recruitment a rarity in high school
Beacon News - from within a 30-mile radius and can offer different forms of financial assistance As a tuition school, we offer academic scholarships,” Marmion headmaster John You have so far fewer of those power programs in the ‘off sports,’” Cederblad said
Source: www.suburbanchicagonews.com

Intuition was a wonderful gift. It was also an awful curse. By instantly recognizing patterns, intuition was nature’s vital tool for survival. Life ceaselessly faced a train of unlimited choices and, often, baffling problems. These demanded instant decisions. An animal could not remain undecided, whether to drink water, or to eat grass. Should it be aggressive and fight, run away, or relax and accept the situation? It was intuition, which interpreted events to trigger emotions. Anger made them aggressive. Fear made them retreat. And familiarity supported relaxation. Each emotion eliminated groups of thoughts. If fighting was the option, amicable thoughts did not fit. If the decision was to cut and run, it was useless to marshal one’s militant strengths. The intuitive process eliminated mental activity, which did not fit the chosen course of action. Sadly, this elimination process was also the biggest weakness of the system.

Each emotion set off a focused drive seeking solutions. Anger, fear, or friendliness triggered competing drives. Intuition focused each drive by eliminating views that did not fit its compulsive focus. Anger eliminated amicable memories. Fear lost sight of fighting strengths. As any situation evolved, the emotional strengths of these partisan drives varied. Opposing emotions competed for control. Intuition acted in the emotional center, the limbic system, to select the most powerful emotion, which then ruled. If it was anger, it pulled the trigger. When the choice was made, the process inhibited competing drives, with contrary feelings. Opposing views were largely lost to consciousness.

Across species, fear dictated an escape drive, which sought safety. A deer bounded away. A bird took flight. A fish swam off. While the activities of running, flying and swimming differed, it was the drive, which achieved the objective of escaping. Each drive evaluated experience and the environment. Escape was hardly possible by heading into the predator. Getting away demanded evaluation of many escape routes, including slipping into a safe sanctuary, inaccessible to the predator. Like the underside of a rock. Drives involved a search of multiple contexts to uncover the right answer. While intuitive drives usually delivered the answer instantly, some drives failed to uncover solutions.

Modern life offered few speedy answers. Senior positions had added problems. The higher the position, more the solutions needed for the myriad problems faced by a venture. Intuition, driven by emotions, was the creative force, which delivered answers. Hidden from view, drives constantly sought solutions. While one problem was consciously evaluated, subconscious drives continued search processes to solve other issues. Since, anger, fear or jealousy powered such searches, they often sought to achieve conflicting objectives. These hidden emotions troubled the mind, creating distressing internal conflicts. Sadly, this was the negative face of intuition, standing in the way of achieving peace of mind.

Conflicting viewpoints surged in the subconscious. How could they be integrated? In a harsh and unforgiving world, how could a multitude of clashing drives be graciously focused? How could the mind be stilled? Across the ages, many solutions were offered to focus the mind and still conflicts. Meditation, chanting and breathing routines were found to be beneficial. But, those practices treated the symptom, not the problem. The long term solution was to quiet the internal battles of these competing drives. All knowledge and experience lived within. These same drives were powerful search processes, which could delve deep, to deliver answers. Unique new insights and solutions waited to be discovered.

Drives provided windows into the mind. It was a drive, which assisted in the preparation of a simple shopping list. It searched memory and current context to deliver, line by line, a list of all the items you needed to buy. By contextually searching the mind, drives could be made to play a valuable, creative role. When particularly burdened by a problem, drives could draw out a list of one’s deepest concerns. With its sort facility, a spreadsheet could be used to list and comprehend the turmoils of the mind. The routine could begin by listing, line by line, different aspects of a problem, as it came to mind. Each, a short entry in a single cell of the spread sheet. It may have just begun with, say, “Feel awful” and gone on down. That was the first thought. Many conflicting emotions surged in the background. Each line would sum up a single feeling and its concern. It could be “Negative departmental report” Or, it could be just a hunch. “David will support me.” The worst fears were noted down. “Mortgage payments.” And the common sense thoughts. “This too will pass.”

Writing a list was a calming process. The questioning drive helped still the mind. Differing viewpoints were noted down. These views would arrive in conspicuous sequence. Each entry brought one viewpoint into consciousness - into the general view of isolated and competing drives. Sensible viewpoints would normally have been eliminated from view by angry emotions. Typically, about 60 odd entries would empty the mind of every related thought. Entering opposing viewpoints usually brought balance. The inquiry process stilled background turmoil. The most critical part of this process came next.

A label was entered for each line in an adjacent cell on the spreadsheet. “Fear,” “Opportunity”, or even “Unlikely” could be the labels. With every aspect already considered, it was easier to label an entry. Each label fitted a few more entries. The picture slowly cleared. Underground fears surfaced. Solutions emerged. The closing of one door usually opened another. Those 60 entries would fit a dozen or so categories. A “sort” of the labels column would arrange similar ones together, in alphabetic order. Listing similarly labeled ideas together would bring clarity. They became groups of consistent, allied thoughts. The sorted spreadsheet list integrated the mind.

Isolated drives were forced into the open and a balanced view emerged. Viewed together, “Unlikely” put a label on needless worries. The less likely outcomes could be ignored. The inevitable ones had to be accepted. That left you with the actions you could take. “Opportunities” formed the basis for a future plan. The rest of the list just climbed off your chest. Another threatening issue would have been acknowledged, accepted and foreseen. The spreadsheet evaluation balanced the mind and stilled hidden anxieties and conflicts. Lifted burdens. Anger and fear, love and altruism cooperated to search for solutions which met all the concerns of the mind. With the power of intuition, an integrated mind became the most creative force in the world.

About the Author

Abraham Thomas is the author of The Intuitive Algorithm, a book, which suggests that intuition is a pattern recognition algorithm. The ebook version is available at www.intuition.co.in. The book may be purchased only in India. The website, provides a free movie and a walk through to explain the ideas.

You have permission to publish this article in your ezine or on your website, free of charge, as long as the resource box is included. Please send a courtesy copy of your publication to claudette@metavoice.org.

Word Count: 499 words

Thanks,
Claudette Rowley
============

Trust the Power of Your Intuition Claudette Rowley
Copyright 2004

Trust the Power of Your Intuition

“Every time you don’t follow your inner guidance, you feel a loss of energy, loss of power, a sense of spiritual deadness.” - Shakti Gawain

You have an important decision to make…your intuition is telling you one thing and your mind is advising another direction. You may have read about intuition or, heard people talk about the importance of following it, but still you hedge at taking the leap. What’s missing can be summed up in one word: TRUST.

What stops you from trusting your intuition?

- The Logical Mind - It’s not uncommon for logic to say “If it can’t be proven, seen, felt or heard, it’s hogwash. Give me facts, give me proof.”

- Social conditioning - Most of us aren’t raised in environments where our caretakers say, “Use that intuition! Really listen to it.”

- Doubt - Until we become attuned to the voice of our own intuition, we may harbor doubt. People often say to me, “I’m not sure if it’s my intuition or something else.”

- Inner critic/self-sabotage - Whenever you hear your inner wisdom, the inner critic is bound to pop up and offer its sabotaging opinion.

- You don’t like what your intuition tells you - Sometimes our intuition rings clear as a bell, and we don’t like what it says. For example: “You need to leave this job NOW.” Unless you have another job lined up or money in the bank, most of us would feel fear upon hearing that statement.

You might be thinking “I know I need to trust my intuition. But how do I do that?” Try out the steps below, in the order that intuitively feels right to you.

T - Talk to your intuition. Ask your intuition a question. Get in touch with it.
R - Rest your mind. Your mind can get in the way of hearing an intuitive insight. Give your self the space to clear your mind and listen to your inner messages. Spend time in nature, meditate, do yoga or something with a rhythm to it, like taking a shower, going for a walk, or listening to peaceful music.
U - Un-know. Let go of the need to know. You may understand your intuitive message, or it may ask you to leap into the unknown. It’s not important to understand the “why” or the result you’ll gain by taking action on your intuition. S - Suspend judgment. Intuition isn’t good or bad. It’s purely a message from your own inner wisdom. T - Take action. Until you take action on the messages you receive, your intuition can’t work its magic in your life.

Using your intuition will lead you in new directions and open a door that you might not have otherwise opened. Trusting your intuition is the key that unlocks the door, and acting on it allows you to walk through the doorway to a new opportunity. Trust your intuition and watch its power unfold.

Claudette Rowley, coach and author, helps professionals identify and pursue their true purpose and calling in life.
Contact her today for a complimentary consultation at 781-676-5633 or claudette@metavoice.org. Sign up for her free newsletter “Insights for the Savvy” at http://www.metavoice.org.

K-12th grade Internet schools are low-cost, quality private schools that make life easier for parents. Home-schooling normally requires parents to personally teach their children at home, using a wide variety of educational teaching materials, including books, the Internet, and computer learning software.

However, for those parents who have little time to spare, or dont yet feel confident in home-schooling their children, Internet private schools are a wonderful new alternative. These schools take most of the home-schooling burden off parents backs, yet can give children a low-cost, quality education at home.

An Internet private school for children is similar to the Internet college-degree programs that many universities around the country now offer adults. There are many good Internet schools parents can choose from. Some schools only offer high-school programs while others offer a complete, 1st through 12th grade education.

Many Internet private schools give a course of study similar to traditional private schools. They take children thorough a progressive curriculum in math, science, reading and writing, social studies, and many other subjects.

This structured, comprehensive program is like having a personal teacher and private school in a parents own living room. As a result, these schools can relieve parents of most of the home-schooling burden, while giving children a high-quality education.

This setup is especially helpful for single-working moms, or families where both mother and father work. Since Internet-school teachers supervise the childs education, its less likely that parents will have to take time from work or quit their job to homeschool their kids.

Many Internet private schools charge much lower tuition rates than brick-and-mortar, secular private schools, and sometimes thousands of dollars a year less than Catholic or Protestant-affiliated schools. Tuition costs vary with each school, from as low as $350 a year to $2000 or more a year. Many quality Internet private schools charge less than $850 a year.

Internet schools are a great resource for parents with a limited budget who also want to escape the public schools and give their kids a great education.

Our book, “Public Schools, Public Menace” has a whole Resource section devoted to Internet private schools and other education options for parents.

About the author:
Joel Turtel is the author of Public Schools, Public Menace: How Public Schools Lie To Parents and Betray Our Children.”
Website: www.mykidsdeservebetter.com,
Email: lbooksusa@aol.com,
Phone: 718-447-7348.
Article Copyrighted 2005 by Joel Turtel.
NOTE: You may post this Article on another website only if you set up a hyperlink to Joel Turtels email address and website URL, www.mykidsdeservebetter.com

Intuition is neither positive nor negative; neither good nor bad, neither male nor female. It just is. It is unconditional.

Intuition is neither positive nor negative; neither good nor bad, neither male nor female. It just is. It is unconditional.

Where do we receive intuition? Through the solar-plexus mind, and we receive it in the form of unconditional feeling-tone vibrations. We receive it as feelings, and we then proceed to come up with a brain story to explain those feelings. It is in this process that the feeling-tone vibrations become fractured and polarized and take on perceptions of duality. (Of course, it is just our perceptions that are polarized.)

The ideal situation would be to let the intuition feeling-tone vibrations in, but to leave them as such and not put them through the brain process. The second we judge an intuition it is no longer unconditional and it becomes polarized. The second we doubt an intuition it is no longer unconditional and it becomes polarized. The same with fear. Once we have polarized an intuition we then spend our time trying to categorize those polarities and aligning ourselves with one or the other. This keeps us from understanding the totality of the intuitive message. We’re so busy judging things as either good or bad that we’ve set up a mental block which prevents us from feeling the feeling.

Intuition is feeling! It is not a thought process and it is not a brain process. We process intuition–and all feeling–in our gut, not our heads. The very second we judge (brain) an intuitive feeling as good, even, we have polarized our perception of that intuitive feeling and therefore block ourselves from the full message of that intuitive feeling.

Good and bad are dualities; they’re two sides of the same coin. If we only see good, then we’re only seeing half the picture. If we only see bad, we’re only seeing half the picture. Our attempt to intellectualize intuition is our attempt to find the full meaning of the coin by looking only at one side. Naturally, in this dimension, the coin of good and bad would be spinning furiously so you couldn’t hardly see either side of it. You’d see it as ONE object. It is our brains that try to stop the coin from spinning so that it can align itself with one of the two polarities.

If we see the coin as spinning and ignore the polarities in order to see the ONE-ness of it, then we can feel all the information contained in that coin in its totality without getting caught up in one or the other of the polarities which prevent us from seeing the totality. Our solar-plexus mind is specifically designed to do this, but we have trained ourselves to rely on our intellectual brains to translate feeling-tones. Like computers, the intellectual part of our brains is binary or dualistic. Our brains interpret and categorize according to polarity alignments. Everything has to be either good or bad so the brain knows where to file it. Because of this, we can never see the totality and wholeness of anything just using our brains.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

You have permission to publish this article in your ezine or on your website, free of charge, as long as the resource box is included. Please send a courtesy copy of your publication to claudette@metavoice.org.

Word Count: 499 words

Thanks,
Claudette Rowley
============

Trust the Power of Your Intuition Claudette Rowley
Copyright 2004

Trust the Power of Your Intuition

“Every time you don’t follow your inner guidance, you feel a loss of energy, loss of power, a sense of spiritual deadness.” - Shakti Gawain

You have an important decision to make…your intuition is telling you one thing and your mind is advising another direction. You may have read about intuition or, heard people talk about the importance of following it, but still you hedge at taking the leap. What’s missing can be summed up in one word: TRUST.

What stops you from trusting your intuition?

- The Logical Mind - It’s not uncommon for logic to say “If it can’t be proven, seen, felt or heard, it’s hogwash. Give me facts, give me proof.”

- Social conditioning - Most of us aren’t raised in environments where our caretakers say, “Use that intuition! Really listen to it.”

- Doubt - Until we become attuned to the voice of our own intuition, we may harbor doubt. People often say to me, “I’m not sure if it’s my intuition or something else.”

- Inner critic/self-sabotage - Whenever you hear your inner wisdom, the inner critic is bound to pop up and offer its sabotaging opinion.

- You don’t like what your intuition tells you - Sometimes our intuition rings clear as a bell, and we don’t like what it says. For example: “You need to leave this job NOW.” Unless you have another job lined up or money in the bank, most of us would feel fear upon hearing that statement.

You might be thinking “I know I need to trust my intuition. But how do I do that?” Try out the steps below, in the order that intuitively feels right to you.

T - Talk to your intuition. Ask your intuition a question. Get in touch with it.
R - Rest your mind. Your mind can get in the way of hearing an intuitive insight. Give your self the space to clear your mind and listen to your inner messages. Spend time in nature, meditate, do yoga or something with a rhythm to it, like taking a shower, going for a walk, or listening to peaceful music.
U - Un-know. Let go of the need to know. You may understand your intuitive message, or it may ask you to leap into the unknown. It’s not important to understand the “why” or the result you’ll gain by taking action on your intuition. S - Suspend judgment. Intuition isn’t good or bad. It’s purely a message from your own inner wisdom. T - Take action. Until you take action on the messages you receive, your intuition can’t work its magic in your life.

Using your intuition will lead you in new directions and open a door that you might not have otherwise opened. Trusting your intuition is the key that unlocks the door, and acting on it allows you to walk through the doorway to a new opportunity. Trust your intuition and watch its power unfold.

Claudette Rowley, coach and author, helps professionals identify and pursue their true purpose and calling in life.
Contact her today for a complimentary consultation at 781-676-5633 or claudette@metavoice.org. Sign up for her free newsletter “Insights for the Savvy” at http://www.metavoice.org.

What is the average cost of college tuition? This is one question that most parents and future students ask themselves and need to know in order to plan for a college education.

The national average college tuition rate for public universities is $4,694 per year for in state residents. This figure includes both tuition rates and fees for a full time student.

The average college tuition rate at private colleges and universities is around $20,000 per year in tuition and fees.

Many students take advantage of the low tuition rates of two-year public colleges and junior colleges. The average tuition for a two year school is only $2,076 per year.

College Tuition Increase

While it is good to get an idea of the current cost of tuition, it is also important to understand the expected increase in tuition costs. Parents and students who still have several years before entering college should be keenly aware of the projected estimates rather than the current costs so that they can plan accordingly.

Tuition rates increase at about twice the general inflation rate. On average, tuition rates tend to increase about 8% per year. Some academic years see a greater increase than others and many economic factors come into play when a college decides to increase tuition.

For the school year 2005-2006 many colleges dramatically raised tuition rates. An example of such tuition hikes is at the University of Colorado where tuition rates have been raised for all of the system’s campuses. Tuition at the Boulder campus will go up by 27.8 percent, from $3,480 to $4,446. Other University of Colorado campuses will see a similar increase.

And now the good news

Even though college tuition rates increase, more students than ever are benefiting from educational aid programs. According to a report from The College Board, “In 2003-04, the amount the average student actually paid for a public four-year institution, after receiving grant aid and education tax benefits, was about $1,300 per student.”

Government grants such as the pell grant provide funding for many college students. In fact for students who attend two-year colleges the grant award may cover the entire cost of tuition.

Scholarship programs awarded by colleges, businesses and non profit organizations are available to help students defray the cost of college tuition. There are many college scholarship programs available and it is becoming even easier to find these programs with the use of the internet.

With a combination of savings, financial aid, and scholarships many students today are able to afford college tuition and further their education.

About The Author Michael Carter is a contributor at College Financial Aid Guide, an online informational resource for educational funding, scholarships and student loans. Find out about more at: http://www.collegefinancialaidguide.com. Filed under Tuition Research by Quickly bookmark Tuition Fee Increase at:                                                 Permalink • Print • Email Tuition Community College “We need to be willing to let our intuition guide us, and then be willing to follow that guidance directly and fearlessly.” (Shakti Gawain) One can wonder if intuition really exists, and?even more?whether it’s a reliable source for basing our decisions on. Haven’t you ever felt that something was the right thing to do, yet, hesitated to do it, because it would be such a drastic step in your life? Well, I’ve been there. The funny, or maybe sad, part of the story is, that it took me years before I dared to follow my intuition, and a few more years after that, before I got the conviction that my intuition had led me in the right direction. In the meantime I had spent a lot of energy struggling with the question whether I had made the correct decision, or whether I had just been paranoid. The main reason for doubting ourselves is oftentimes simply because others ridicule our intuition. They may even tell us that we are insane for even considering the direction our intuition sends us. However, the only way we can find out is to do what WE think is best. Definitions and Statements Intuition is explained by the Concise Oxford Dictionary as, 1) Immediate apprehension by the mind without reasoning. 2) Immediate apprehension by a sense. 3) Immediate insight. Increasingly, we notice that management- and leadership experts recommend us to practice more empathy in our leadership styles. This clearly entails the sensitive issue of feeling rather than thinking, right? It’s an encouragement to act with our hearts instead of our minds; to follow the “hunch,” the little voice within us that tells us what would be the right direction to go. Pollock (2002) suggests, “When you must weigh two or more ideas, the most productive approach is to give them an initial screening. This is usually based on a mixture of common sense, intuition, good judgment, imagination and, yes, some luck.” Referring to the need for meaning at work among the workers of today, Whitehead (2002) exclaims, “? The trend towards imagination and creativity is more than the latest hype from the management consultancies. [?] It reflects a growing realization of how the world actually works. It’s a world [?], not only of facts and figures, but of intuition, hunch and gut instinct.” Whitehead continues, “A huge amount of decision-making is not about weighing up the facts and figures, but following a hunch about what you think will happen.” In an article about successful investors, Sykes (2002) pulls the intuition issue even further by stating, “Intuition. It’s what separates the men from the boys, or shall I say, the women from the girls? Either way, intuition is vital in decision [-making]?” A good example of this philosophy is given by Tazzia (2001) when he discusses his findings about “the skills that top marketing officers of the future will need,” thereby listing them as follows, “1. Strategic vision and strategic process, 2. Intuition and the ability to react, 3. Creative development and innovation, 4. Desire for accountability, and 5. An action orientation.” When elaborating on point 2, Tazzia concludes, “The world is too complex and moving too fast for classic analytical tools to cope. You can’t wait to gather all the data, and even if you could, the data would change before you could react.” He then continues, “Can intuition be taught? Not in the opinion of our panel. But it can be killed early in a young manager’s career. Intuition demands that people trust their judgment, take risks. If companies hammer a young manager for a market failure, will he or she ever take a risk again? What you can teach these young people is how to mitigate risks, how to cover their bets. That would be valuable.” This is exactly what Michael Burke may have meant when he stated, “Good instincts usually tell you what to do before your head has figured it out.” Embroidering on this theme, it may very well be that we are using our intuition all the time, and in everything we do, especially if we consider the following statement: “Practical observation commonly consists of collecting a few facts and loading them with guesses.” (Unknown Source) An interesting development these days is that not only people are using intuition as a strategic management tool. Entire organizations do so as well. Murphy (2002), for instance, sums up the successful approach of a business by stating, “With the right tools and a little intuition, organizations can increase profitability by leveraging customer information to anticipate customers’ needs and influence their behavior.” Nevertheless, not everybody perceives intuition as a reliable source for decision-making. Suutari (2001), for example, allots it a fairly ambivalent status by asserting, “Time constraints, among other factors, force [a] manager to make a plethora of decisions based primarily on an existing knowledge base, experience and even intuition.” Suutari continues somewhat further in his article, “Experience, (and its cousin, intuition) provide a basis of reference as to what has or has not worked before. However, experience is only valid if the fundamental circumstances are similar. Experience can play a role in decisions in all modes, resulting in a tendency to repeat a specific action until it fails.” Now this is exactly the part where I don’t agree with this author’s point of view, because I find it hard to see experience and intuition as two related subjects. On the contrary! While experience is based on past occurrences, intuition is more of a guiding sensation into taking the most viable “leap in the dark,” whereby “the dark” is obviously the unknown. But then again, there’s a quote by Dr. Joyce Brothers that says, “Trust your hunches. They’re usually based on facts filed away just below the conscious level.” So, who knows, maybe intuition IS based on experiences, if not from this life, perhaps from previous ones?if you believe in reincarnation?? Interestingly?and seemingly contradicting?McDonalds (2002) comes up with a broad, lyrical range of definitions in which he clearly detaches intuition from any sort of experience: “Intuition. The ability to see any event, any object from a viewpoint of the cosmic whole, from it’s culmination - the seed, the flower, the fruit in relation to the whole. The knowing of something without prior knowledge or the use of reason.” McDonalds (2002) emphasizes the increasing recognition given to intuition by citing the following statement from Intuition Magazine Online, “In recent years, the subject of intuition has emerged from obscurity. Intuition is increasingly recognized as a natural mental faculty, a key element in the creative process, a means of discovery, problem solving, and decision-making. Once considered the province of a gifted few, it is now recognized as an innate capacity available to everyone not a rare, accidental talent, but a natural skill anyone can cultivate. A key ingredient in what we call genius, it is also an important tool when applied to everyday life.” Personal Thoughts and Suggestions Having done some reflective thinking, I came up with the following cycle: The more we eliminate confusing rustle in our lives, the more we become focused. The more we become focused, the better we understand ourselves. The better we understand ourselves, the more intense we live. The more intense we live, the better we hear our inner voice. The better we hear our inner voice, the more empathic we can listen to it. The more empathic we can listen to our inner voice, the more determined we become, for it’s then that we know we hear the right thing? and do it. Here’s some other food for thought: 1. Use all the knowledge you gained through school- and street education, but never underestimate the feeling you get when making a certain decision. If it doesn’t feel good, reconsider, for if you don’t, 9 times out of 10 the outcome will be unfavorable. 2. No matter how convincing others’ arguments toward the opposite are, if your intuition has been pushing you in a certain direction for quite a while, and you have given it sufficient consideration, go for it. In the end you’ll find you did the right thing. Remember, you’ll never fully fathom others’ motives, but you DO know yours. 3. Once you’ve taken a decision based on your gut feeling, work on it! Even the most excellent project or the most blissful idea can go wrong if you don’t invest time and effort in it. And how easy will it then be for the negativists around you to rub “the failure of your intuition” in your face? Finalizing: Intuition is a powerful guiding tool in every area of our life if we just care to give it a chance. The value of following one’s intuition can be concluded from Albert Einstein’s proclamation, “I never came upon any of my discoveries through the process of rational thinking.” And finally, it may very well be the immortal Ralph Waldo Emerson, who stated the most dynamic conviction about the power of intuition when he said, “If the single man plant himself indomitably on his instincts, and there abide, the huge world will come round to him.” References: Diverse. (1999). Intuition, [Internet]. Cyber Nation [2002, April 6]. Higher Awareness, I. (1999). Intuition and Awareness. Higher Awareness, Inc. Available: http://www.higherawareness.com/awarenessandintuition.shtml [2002, April 6]. Macdonald, I. A. (2002, February 27, 2002). Intuition…Awaken the Journey Within, [Internet]. Iain A. Macdonald. Available: http://intuition2vishnu.homestead.com/ [2002, April 6]. Murphy, D. (2002). Predictive analytics as the proverbial early bird. Customer Inter@Ction Solutions, 20(7), 26-27. Pollock, T. (2002). Mind your own business. Supervision, 63(3), 17-19. Suutari, R. (2001). Playing the decision-making game. CMA Management, 75(7), 14-17. Sykes, T. A. (2002). Investing 301: Part 3. Black Enterprise, 32(6), 65-67. Tazzia, E. (2001). Nurturing your natural talents. Advertising Age, 72(44), 20. Whitehead, M. (2002). Passion at a premium. Supply Management, 7(4), 20-24. Are you looking for a better way to gain access to intuitive information? In dowsing, we use the aid of a pendulum to tap into our intuition. Depending on how you program it, your pendulum will give you answers by swinging in certain directions to tell you “yes,” “no,” or “undecided.” Dowsing is very clear to read. Unlike the tarot, which depends heavily on the interpretation of the reader, dowsing is a method that really doesn’t offer much room for interpretation. Yes means yes and no means no. And learning to dowse takes no time at all! As such, dowsing is an ideal place to start developing a sense for intuitive information. A pendulum allows you to get crystal clear answers through an external source so that you can develop a trust in the validity of the information. Unfortunately, the very advantage to dowsing - the fact that it is so clear to read - is also what makes it somewhat limiting. We have to ask questions that can be answered with “yes” or “no.” However, with some experience, we can access a wealth of information within this limited medium. The true advantage of dowsing is that it allows you to get a clear sense of your own intuitive knowledge. As you continue dowsing, you will over time start to receive the answers before the pendulum even swings. Before long, you will develop a keen sense of how your inner guidance system works. All answers from your pendulum really come from your superconscious - from your Higher Self. Your Higher Self is your Soul self. It is the ancient, infinitely wise part of you that was directly created from Source. Your Higher Self is not limited to this present incarnation. It has access to all your lifetimes, past, present and future. It spans dimensions, time and space. Your Higher Self is pure Spirit. This is where the information really comes from. When you dowse, your Higher Self will connect to your subconscious. This is what actually creates the movement of the pendulum. Consciously, you will not be aware of creating any movement in the pendulum whatsoever. It really is a wonderful thing to watch your pendulum swinging of its own accord! You would swear that you are holding your hand absolutely still, but in truth, your subconscious is creating the subtle movements that create the swing of the pendulum. Everyone is intuitive. The more you practice, the more your intuition will be available to you. The pendulum is merely the external starting point. As you use it more and more, your focus will shift towards your internal receptors for intuitive information. However, as a good place to start, nothing beats learning how to dowse! About the Author Andrea Hess is an intuitive consultant working with spiritual seekers who want practical, accurate information about their life path and purpose. You may visit her site at www.andreahess.com for a detailed mini-course on dowsing, or a free Sample Reading. Filed under Tuition Research by Quickly bookmark Tuition Community College at: