“I have taken a vow to love myself, in good times and bad.” Stacie Martin This is one of the most important vows you will ever make in life. Don’t lose sight of it when things are tough. Or when the old tapes start playing in your head. Remember to always love and cherish yourself. […] […]
I Promise … — Don’t Lose Hope — Coaching Skills International
It’s Friday!
So glad you are here today and I enjoy all your comments.
I can’t agree with this quote more. For me true beauty is on the inside. There are plenty of attractive people who are very ugly on the inside. I was more concerned about my looks when I was younger, I wasn’t pretty enough, thin enough, tall enough, whatever enough. Somewhere around 40 years old, I got a grip and the light went off. What matters is what is on the inside and any one who I want to spend time with is beautiful on the inside and the outside is just a bonus.
I hope you have a great weekend with friends and family making memories that will last a lifetime.
Melinda
June 3, 2020
CBD has revolutionized modern medicine by transforming the way human illnesses have additional treatment options. However, a common question persists on everyone’s mind, whether the same applies to animals or not. To the question posed above, the answer is yes. Let us explore how CBD has been able to enunciate its potential benefit on animals.
Similarities between pets and humans
Apart from both being mammals, many physical similarities are prevalent between a human being and an animal.
Several studies have supported the strong impact of CBD on several pets, including cars, dogs, birds, and horses. The effects have resulted in benefiting animals in a similar manner in which it has helped us, humans. Moreover, it is entirely safe for pets as most of the animals have an Endocannabinoid system which facilitates a safer CBD consumption. In addition to being safe, it also benefits the regulatory system in the body.
Do cats feel apprehensive?
Contrary to what our normal perceptions might seem like, reports say that cats do experience anxiety. One of the common reasons for anxiety accounted for them being separated from their owner when they go through separation anxiety. CBD is a potential healthy alternative to several conventional methods that aid in controlling this stress. It helps to be far more effective as compared to other drugs that can further lead to causing side effects.
Do dogs experience anxiety?
Dogs, one of the most common pets across households, have also been reported to experience anxiety. The last century has witnessed countless studies completed to evaluate the impact of stress on dogs. Results confirm that dogs, too, feel stressed, similar to that of human beings because of the presence of cortisol, the same component causing stress in humans.
Cortisol further imposed an increasingly harmful effect with ‘Cushing’s Disease,’ a disease that became prevalent among K-9s at a high level. The growing passage of time has been able to introduce CBD towards regulating bodily functions that have reduced cortisol levels among dogs. CBD assists by relaxing the brain out while incorporating a balanced diet.
Nauseous horses
Similar to cats and dogs, horses too can experience nausea, which can weaken their daily functioning ability. Nausea is primarily caused due to several gastrointestinal problems that lead to several physical concerns, such as the following:
One of the best ways to treat the concern is through initiating CBD that aims to relax the gut microbiome while regulating the gastrointestinal tract.
Treating inflammation
Each animal tends to experience a certain degree of inflammation. Massive animals, such as horses and cows, can experience painful joints. With inflammation being the primary cause of arthritis, it links to several single diseases.
CBD has the potential to combat the inflammation caused and has also managed to reduce it with repeated dosage further. Arthritis can be treated efficiently with the help of CBD, as compared to severe pain medications that had caused dampening long term side effects.
Cancer: The Key Murderer
Cancer is another common disease among individuals that have also worked its way to affecting animals. It works by multiplying the cells of the body, which gathers in a specific location that spreads eventually throughout the body.
As a result, the functioning of the motor skills tends to slow down with the insides beginning to deteriorate with time and exacerbating the issue, especially if not diagnosed and treated early. There have been a million researches conducted on cancer with the help of science, and CBD has proved to be one of the essential components showing a direct impact on removing cancer cells efficiently. It gets attached to the cells receptors while altering the mitochondria that results in the cell breakdown.
Pets affected with cancer treatment
While the strategy might not be a 100% proven one, however CBD mixed with other treatments has the potential to eradicate the cancer cells. Moreover, pets have also shown fewer side effects because of the component’s potential ability to regulate the functions in the body.
Does it sound way too dreamy?
Everything that is trending might not be accurate. However, occasionally a fundamental discovery might come in the way that has the potential to redefine the present. The statement made is what CBD stands for, which brings along the potential to treat humans, animals, and pets with a varied array of ailments with little or no side effects. Bid farewell to see your pets suffering from illnesses such as anxiety, stomach pain, stress, and others.
Dawn of a new beginning
CBD, with its tremendous physical benefits, have been able to alter the landscape of medicine within a shorter time. Although the previous studies limited due to backward regulations, there is still an abundance of knowledge waiting for us to explore. With the help of legalization incorporation across the US, scientists have been able to test CBD along with individuals treating themselves and their furry members suffering from several health diseases.
A Celebration for animal kind
Animals cases reported showing extreme signs of depression that has further made them lazy and de-motivated to be the cheerful self they are. Extreme examples of elephants hurling themselves on the floor while feeling low, pigs, seen crying due to the death of their siblings or friends.
CBD, in addition to revolutionizing physical health, also has been able to combat depression, not just limited to humans but also animals. With medicines proliferating the depression, even more, CBD has managed to offer a sigh of relief to animals without posing dampening side effects.
This is a collaborative post.
Melinda
If your furry friend is struggling with digestive problems, bad breath, dry skin, and more, your first port of call is to reach out to your vet to get him checked out, right?
We all want what’s best for our animals to keep them happy and healthy, but some pet parents are concerned with resorting to ‘Western medicine’ when it comes to their care. One of the reasons pet owners express concern in this area is the overuse of medicines to deal with some issues. Are some of the most common side effects worth it in the long run.
Some pet owners have since looked into the use of alternative medicine for the treatment of some common animal complaints. Before considering the use of alternative treatments for your pets, it is important to speak to a registered veterinarian who will advise you on the best treatments for your pet.
Here are some of the alternative treatments you can use to treat your animals, and some of the things you need to know about them.
Acupuncture
The treatment that involves inserting small needles in certain parts of the body to balance the energy flow, thus treating pain and chronic ailments, acupuncture is a popular choice for pet owners to use on their animals, too. It is pain relief without the excessive use of chemicals from western medicine.
Food
Every animal has to eat, and a good way of sneaking medication into a pet is through their food as their favorite wet food will disguise the taste of nasty medicines. However, some companies such as petness.com provide animals with tasty hemp-based products for dogs that not only have a huge range of health benefits such as easing pet anxiety and sleeping issues, but they’re tasty, too!
Supplements
Where there are perhaps some nutritional shortfalls in the diet, nutritional supplements can benefit pets by supplying additional vitamins, minerals, amino acids, and vital fatty acids to encourage optimal health
Massage
Another popular treatment for humans. Pets can also enjoy the benefits of massage from lowering the stress hormones in the body, pain relief, increased circulation, and a boosted immune system. Once pet owners have the correct training, this could also be done at home saving a lot of time and money!
What Do Vets Think About the Use of Alternative Therapy?
While alternative therapy is increasing in popularity among pet owners, many vets do not like to encourage the use of alternative therapies. This is mainly due to the fact that, unlike western veterinary treatment and medicine, many of these therapies have not been scientifically proven to work for the treatment of various illnesses or complaints.
This doesn’t mean that these treatments are always ineffective, however- it just means that highly funded case studies have yet to be completed meaning that these alternative treatments haven’t been put to the test.
Some vets are incredibly open to the idea of the use of alternative medicine, with some schools even offering training in the area to go alongside western treatments.
This is a collaborative post.
Melinda
May 11, 2021Anita H. Clayton, MD
May is Maternal Mental Health Month, and moms around the world could probably use a break. During the COVID-19 pandemic, they have done even more of the childcare and housework, while also, in many cases, keeping up with their careers. How has the pandemic affected their mental health—either by creating new problems or by exacerbating perennial concerns?
In this edition of PsychPearls, Anita H. Clayton, MD, explores the wide and varied field of maternal mental health. Along with the effects of the pandemic, Clayton discusses prenatal mental health care, new and emerging treatments for postpartum depression and psychosis, and how what she saw in a courtroom set her on a path to becoming a renowned expert on maternal wellness.
https://embeds.audioboom.com/posts/7863094/embed/v4
Dr Clayton will speak further on these issues at the Annual Psychiatric TimesTM World CME Conference.
Dr Clayton is the David C. Wilson Professor and chair of the Department of Psychiatry and Neurobehavioral Sciences at the University of Virginia, with a secondary appointment as professor of clinical obstetrics and gynecology. She is the author of Satisfaction: Women, Sex, and the Quest for Intimacy, published by Ballantine Books in 2007, and an editor of the 2005 Women’s Mental Health: A Comprehensive Textbook. She is also a program co-chair of the Annual Psychiatric TimesTM World CME Conference.
No matter your age buying your first car is a big deal and can be a process that is filled with uncertainty as it is something new that you have not done before. You may have a car and have been given a car but if it is your first time buying your own then it will be a nerve-racking time for you especially if you do not think it through and plan it out properly.
If you are looking to buy your first car it is definitely something you want to get right, it is an investment for you and you may be unsure what you can do to make sure it is a smooth process for you. If you are unsure where to start then hopefully, these few tips will help you get started and make sure your first-time car buying experience goes well.
Source: Pexels
You need to make sure you know exactly what you can afford per month, so what you have left after paying off all your bills and other things you pay out for. Knowing this is crucial for two reasons, firstly if you are paying in full for the car then you need to know if you have the spare money to save or pay for it, secondly, if you are looking to finance this car then you need to make sure you have money for a deposit and monthly payments. Your budget will really help you understand if buying a car is even doable. If you want to pay outright and not finance then you may want to look into things like New Roads auto loans as then you can get a loan for the car and choose the car you want then pay back the loan monthly if affordable.
Now you want to look into what car you want if you know what you can afford. Choosing the right car is important, you need to make sure the car is suitable for your lifestyle and what you will be using it for, and make sure that you find an honest and likable dealership to buy one from. If you do not research this and just rely on a dealership or salesman you may get ripped off. It is important to know what you are looking for so you do not get taken for a fool when buying it.
Research the dealer and look at reviews and feedback so you know if they are going to be good to buy from and not try to rip you off. You need to also do the same if you are buying off the internet. You need to be very careful doing this as you are not going to be able to see the car or test it if you buy online, so make sure you research the seller and be certain it is going to be legit.
If you are looking to buy your first car and you are unsure where to start or what you can do to make sure it goes to plan then hopefully, these tips will help you get started and understand where to start when it comes to your first time buying a car.
This is a collaborative post.
Melinda
I’m so glad you stopped by today, I love seeing your smiling faces and hearing your comments.
I love Marigolds almost as much as a butterfly does. I have three pots full this year and they are just starting to spread out. We’ve had a great deal of rain and Marigolds like hot sunny days. I have a lot to look forward to this summer.
Melinda
A business website is an essential marketing tool that offers an alternative platform to get the word out about your goods and services. With the growing use of the internet, many individuals now go online searching for businesses that can provide what they’re looking for before getting into contact or visiting the store. However, to achieve the maximum results from a website, it needs to be user-friendly and appealing. Unfortunately, not many people know how to build the right web design, but the following tips can help you make a great first impression.
Over the past decade, the number of mobile users has increased due to internet connectivity and smartphones’ affordability. In addition, studies reveal that most internet users often use their mobile devices to surf the internet. For this reason, it is vital to make your website mobile-friendly through its design to enhance responsiveness.
An example of a feature you should consider in your design is the screen size to allow tablet and smartphone users to navigate the website with ease. Failure to add responsive features significantly increases traffic loss, thereby affecting your rankings on search engines like Google.
When your website loads slowly, it puts off customers, and instead of waiting, they move on to your competitor’s pages. The average internet user expects your page to load within a short period, say like two seconds. When a page takes longer than that, it becomes frustrating, and you’re likely to lose a potential customer. Reduce your page loading time in the following ways:
Scale and reduce file sizes before uploading them.
Performing regular tests is among the essential tips to enhance user interaction and website usability. Perform tests during your website’s design phase and after its completion to keep making improvements as your business grows. Ensuring your website’s design is appealing and easy to navigate can increase your conversion rates, ultimately boosting your return on investments.
Use the best click testing tool to determine where website users are focusing for you to make informed decisions when developing new products or pages. When you include your visitors’ perspective during the design, you can make it more functional and stylish.
Difficulty with readability is one of the signs that your website’s usability is problematic. If customers face readability challenges, they’re likely to become irritated and abandon the site altogether. Enhance your readability by doing the following:
While using informative content about your business products/services and their benefits, avoid overloading the website user with too much text. Instead, use images to break up texts to retain the customers’ interest. Remember, the prospective customer forms an opinion about your business within a short period; make sure they get impressed. Instead of using many words to describe points within paragraphs, use appealing images. Optimized images boost your site’s usability and attract more consumers. However, avoid overstuffing pictures as it can take away from the point of having them.
Your website layout plays a great role in determining how well your users can navigate it and for how long. The longer a user sticks to your website, the higher the chances of converting into a customer. Many websites use a recognizable layout design that is familiar to users, making it simple to navigate. While being different can make your website unique, it can also create confusion among users who may, in turn, choose to abandon it. Stick to a familiar web layout with concise terms, a simple top navigation bar, and page links.
After going through your home page, users should predict the locations of other web elements. If a user clicks on an internal link and wonders if they’ve left your site, they’re likely to get confused due to the different website design. Ensure you maintain consistency throughout your website to enhance usability. Use the same colors, fonts, and locations for easy navigation.
For you to make a good first impression, you need a great website for your business. Keep the users in mind to make their navigation easy with a consistent design for enhanced usability. Your website’s functionality is just as essential as its design. Reduce the loading period, enhance readability, use images and maintain a recognizable layout to combine style with function and continue attracting customers.
This is a collaborative post.
Melinda
BY Emily Douglas 17 May 2021
It’s 3.15am Monday morning. While the rest of the world sleeps soundly, you’re twitching to turn on the bedside lamp. You’re edging towards your phone. It’s been buzzing on and off, sounding in the dark, which can mean only one thing.
Emails are waiting.
You think, I’ll just take a quick peek – a quick look then back to sleep. There’s no harm in that, right? After all, maybe it’s urgent. Maybe it’s my manager. Maybe it’s my CEO. Maybe the company’s been liquidated and everyone’s been fired and it’s all my fault!
Sound familiar? You, my friend, have email anxiety. And you’re not alone.
Email anxiety is a deep-rooted fear of looking through your inbox – coupled with an innate inability not to. Striking any time day or night, sufferers feel intense anxiety around their inbox – worried about both receiving emails and having to read them. The average employee spends around four hours each day reading and responding to messages – with most workers receiving up to 120 emails every day. For employees suffering with anxiety, each day is a battle between wanting to be productive and being paralysed by nerves.
While email anxiety is nothing new, it has become more prevalent since COVID-19. Now, with employees working from their homes, work-life balance is even more difficult to attain. The added pressure of the current pandemic, coupled with increased working hours and C-suite expectations, is leading to a mental health crisis. And, if HR doesn’t act quickly, we’re going to see psychological wellbeing take a massive hit.
The link between technology and stress was debated by Dr Gini Harrison, Dr Mathijs Lucassen in their recent study Stress and anxiety in the digital age. In this research, they theorized that we’re becoming overly dependant on our phones, leading to perpetual distraction and poor sleep habits.
When you consider that a lot of employees have their work emails on their smart devices – it’s clear that this need to be constantly connected is wrecking our mental, physical, and emotional health.
So, what’s to be done? Well, the easiest option would be to take your emails off of your mobile phone. And while we do recommend that, it doesn’t stop the stress and anxiety surrounding in-office, desktop, messages. If the issue is simply being overloaded with too many emails, speak to your manager and raise the issue with them. We’re all guilty of CC’ing people into emails when they don’t really need to be there – so, before you send any messages, be cognizant of this. Look through the recipients. Do they all have to be there? Can you remove any? If this is implemented as best practice across the whole company, believe me, you’ll see a dramatic drop in email volume.
Another option is to add an Out Of Office folder to your inbox. Any messages that come through when you’re technically ‘off the clock’ will go into a sperate file for you to check during working hours. With certain email accounts, you can add a reminder that will pop up if you try to email someone outside of their allotted schedule. This acts as a first line of defence should employees get too trigger happy with late night messages.
Angela Champ, SVP of HR at Alpine Building Maintenance, recommends a complete inbox cleanse – removing all unwanted toxins from your account.
“Unsubscribe from any newsletters or emails that no longer add value or help you do your job,” she told HRD. “From there, set aside certain blocks within your day to read and respond to emails, rather than reading them continuously, and turn off the notifications so you’re not tempted to check. Finally, I’d say that if a message thread is longer than three emails deep, pick up the phone. So much more can be resolved with a five-minute call than a super long email chain.”
When it comes to addressing the issue of unmanageable anxiety, take a step back and breathe. The pandemic has us all in a spin, working constantly, developing unhealthy habits, and feeling burned out. When the panic sets in, walk away from your desk and step outside for a few moments. Go for a walk, practice some mindfulness, and realise that whatever this email says, it’s not the end of the world. As with most anxiety, it’s not the end result we fear, it’s the fear of fear that’s debilitating.
For employers, if you want to help your workers through email stress, you too have to become more self-aware and take some accountability.
“Knowing your recipient is key,” Dr Melanie Peacock, associate professor of HR, told HRD. “This is why, especially in a virtual world, we need to take the time to build opportunities for people to develop interpersonal relationships with one another. Trust doesn’t just appear; it’s created and nurtured. When one trusts the recipient email anxiety is lessened.”
lookingforthelight.blog 