National Youth HIV/AIDS Awareness Day (10 April)

April 7, 2022 Looking for the LightLeave a comment

I’m so excited to see this day recognized. When you are young you think you are invincible but the facts are you are not. IF you have unprotected sex or oral sex you can get HIV/AIDS. Please know the facts and parents please have this critical conversation with your kids.

April 10 is National Youth HIV/AIDS Awareness Day, a day to raise awareness about the impact of HIV on young people. Together, we can help young people stay healthy by encouraging HIV testing, prevention, and treatment. https://bit.ly/3L4rKhS #StopHIVTogether #NYHAAD

Youth with HIV are the least likely of any age group to be aware of their infection and have a suppressed viral load. Addressing HIV in youth requires that young people have access to the information and tools they need to make healthy decisions, know their HIV status, reduce their risk for getting HIV, and get treatment and stay in care if they have HIV. Get the latest data on HIV among youth and find out how CDC is making a difference.

CDC-INFO

CDC’s national health information hotline, providing answers to your questions regarding HIV, how to protect yourself, and where to get an HIV test.
1-800-CDC-INFO (232-4636) | 1-888-232-6348 TTY
In English, en Español, 8 am to 8 pm EST, Monday through Friday
www.cdc.gov/info

HIVinfo

A service of the United States Department of Health and Human Services (HHS), offers access to the latest, federally approved HIV/AIDS medical practice guidelines, HIV treatment and prevention clinical trials, and other research information for health care providers, researchers, people affected by HIV/AIDS, and the general public.
1-800-HIV-0440 (448-0440) | 1-888-480-3739 TTY
1-301-315-2816 (Outside United States)
In English, en Español, 1 pm to 4 pm ET, Monday through Friday
ContactUs@HIVinfo.NIH.gov | hivinfo.nih.gov/external icon

The Clinician Consultation Center

http://nccc.ucsf.eduexternal icon

Clinicians’ Warmline

Provides health care providers with expert clinical advice on preventing and treating HIV.
1-800-933-3413 | 9 am to 8 pm EST, Monday through Friday

Perinatal HIV Hotline

Provides clinicians with around-the-clock advice on indications and interpretations of HIV testing in pregnancy, and consultation on antiretroviral use during pregnancy, labor and delivery, and the postpartum period.
1-888-448-8765 | 24 hours, seven days a week

PEPline

Provides expert guidance in managing health care worker exposures to HIV and hepatitis B and C. Clinicians receive immediate post-exposure prophylaxis (PEP) recommendations.
1-888-448-4911 | Occupational PEP: 11 am to 8 pm EST, seven days a week | Non-occupational PEP: 9 am to 8 pm EST, Monday through Friday; 11 am to 8 pm EST, weekends and holidays

PrEPline

Provides expert guidance on considerations for providing pre-exposure prophylaxis (PrEP) to people who don’t have HIV as part of an HIV prevention program.
1-855-448-7737 | 9 am to 8 pm EST, Monday through Friday

Substance Use Management

Peer-to-peer consultation from physicians, clinical pharmacists, and nurses with special expertise in substance use evaluation and management.
1-855-300-3595 | 9 am to 8 pm EST, Monday through Friday

There’s a ton of information out there on youth and HIV/AIDS so find some resources that work for you.

Melinda

Reference:

https://www.cdc.gov/hiv/group/age/youth/index.html

Celebrate Life · Fun · Health and Wellbeing · Men & Womens Health · Mental Health

Just Pondering

April 7, 2022 Looking for the Light1 Comment

By Live Bold and Bloom

Would you choose to be born into a different culture than the one you have?

Melinda

Celebrate Life · Health and Wellbeing · Men & Womens Health · Mental Health

Book Review for Understanding Human Nature by Richard Brook

April 6, 2022April 11, 2022 Looking for the LightLeave a comment

A special thanks to Alice Rowe at The Book Publicist for providing a copy of Understanding Human Nature, A Users Guide To Life by Richard Brook for review.

Celebrate Life · Fun · Travel

Wordless Wednesday*Gardening

April 6, 2022 Looking for the Light3 Comments

Thanks for stopping by today, I appreciate your comments each week.

Melinda

Celebrate Life · Fun · Health and Wellbeing · Men & Womens Health · Mental Health

Just Pondering

April 5, 2022 Looking for the LightLeave a comment

By Live Bold and Bloom

If you became the leader of the country, what would be the first thing that you do?

Melinda

Health and Wellbeing · Men & Womens Health

Sexual Assault Awareness Month

April 5, 2022April 5, 2022 Looking for the Light1 Comment

Sexual Assault Awareness Month is very important to the community and survivors. I’ve been assaulted more than once, as a child and again as an adult. I was very scared and in both cases I did nothing. Both were by people I knew and that muddies the waters in your head even when you say no.

At RAINN, we’re dedicated to supporting survivors of sexual violence every day of the year—but each April for Sexual Assault Awareness and Prevention Month (#SAAPM) we do a little something different. During SAAPM, we ask individuals and communities across the country to engage with this issue by learning more about sexual violence, sharing information, bringing together our community, volunteering, and donating. Below we have everything you need—information, planning tips, social media posts and graphics—so you can easily share, tweet, and tag with @RAINN throughout the month. Together, we can support survivors and change the way our communities respond to sexual violence.

Bystander Intervention 101: Show You CARE

The only person responsible for committing sexual assault is a perpetrator, but all of us have the ability to look out for each other’s safety. Whether it’s giving someone a safe ride home from a party or directly confronting a person who is engaging in threatening behavior, anyone can help prevent sexual violence.

Learn

Find help and the resources you need. Call 800.656.4673

Melinda

Health and Wellbeing · Men & Womens Health · Mental Health

How To Work From Home Without Direct Supervision

April 5, 2022 Looking for the Light6 Comments

Working from home comes with many perks, but it also requires a massive level of independence without direct supervision. While some may consider this ‘freedom’ a blessing, it’s a nightmare for those who struggle to work independently. Being unable to work without supervision can affect your quality of work, quickly lead to trust issues between you and your superiors, cause micromanagement stress, and even cost you your job. Fortunately, you can change that. That said, here are some tips to help you work without direct supervision.

Start believing in yourself

If you feel you can’t handle a task on your own, you’re already setting yourself up for disappointment. Take the time to figure your skills out, identify which skills you lack, find ways to learn those skills, and hone the ones you already have. Next, trust your abilities and believe that you can handle the given tasks without supervision. However, working independently does not mean you cannot ask for assistance or clarification when needed, so the next point is also important.

Create a team system

Working remotely and independently does not mean you can’t have a team. It helps to create a team system around you, where you and your colleagues can work on independent tasks while collaborating. Either one person at a time will work independently of the team, or you can all work on solo projects while maintaining healthy communication. You’ll be surprised by how such collaboration can improve your ability to work without supervision.

And speaking about having a team, it also helps to have an assistant at home to take care of home distractions that make it difficult to focus on work. For example, you can rely on direct care services to help ease the burden of caring for a loved one or provide some personal assistant services. You can also rely on family members to help you out with some home responsibilities, so you can focus on work.

Initiate communication with your employers

Just because your superior wants you to be able to work unsupervised does not mean they’re not interested in assisting you when you need it or communicating with you. The last thing you want to do is wait for your superior to contact you first before explaining your struggles or asking for help. Always ensure that you initiate the communication and seek guidance.

Initiating communication shouldn’t be limited to asking for assistance; you should provide regular updates to your superiors, especially if you’re working on tasks that’ll take time to complete. Your superiors will want to know your progress, so you shouldn’t wait for them to call first to provide them with the necessary information.

Be proactive

Aside from initiating communications, be proactive in general. Think ahead and plan without waiting to receive orders. Make suggestions, and don’t hesitate to voice out issues you may have with assignments before you begin working on them. Also, it helps to learn how to work at a pace you can sustain and own up to your mistakes without making excuses.

This is a collaborative post.

Melinda

Celebrate Life · Health and Wellbeing · Men & Womens Health

Have a Safe and Blessed Ramadan

April 4, 2022April 4, 2022 Looking for the Light1 Comment

I’ve watched many services on TV during Ramadan and it’s breathtaking. People travel for thousands of miles on foot to go to Mecca to hear prayers and to celebrate with other Muslims.

It’s a journey I would like to take one day, I’m a Christain but that doesn’t take away from the Holy prayers that are said and the awe of being there. Now that doesn’t mean that Christians are welcome, that’s just my desire.

It’s a mash-up that’s for sure. It’s civilized but with so many people, it’s overwhelming.

Have a blessed month, I hope you receive prayers and lots of love during Ramadan.

I wish you all the best on your journey to Mecca. Please be careful and soak up the sacred memories of a lifetime.

Melinda

Celebrate Life · Fun · Health and Wellbeing · Men & Womens Health

Blogger Highlight-Frozen in the Fire

April 4, 2022April 4, 2022 Looking for the Light7 Comments

This series highlight bloggers you may not run across while searching. I know you’ll find some great blogs to follow and maybe make a few friends along the way. Keep your eye open each week for a new blogger.

Jessica Lynn at Frozen in the Fire

I am a 35 year old daughter of a King, wife, mother, daughter, sister, friend. I am a Nurse Practitioner with the privilege of caring for diverse group of people. I have a passion for God, guiding others, and making mental health as discussed as physical health. I have been frozen in the fire far to many times and have finally made my way out.

“Owning your story is not about sharing the mistakes

of others.

It is about RISING UP IN GRACE

to create the life you desire with the pain, grief,

happiness, hope and love you have experienced.”

JESSICA LYNN

I wanted to highlight Jessica’s blog because she’s real, raw, and makes mental health a priority in her conversations.

Her most recent post, Hero Heart is an open letter to her children that will warm your heart. It touched me because it made me realize how important it is for children to hear their parents’ thoughts and I never had that kind of attention growing up.

Please check out Jessica’s blog for more great posts.

Melinda

Celebrate Life · Health and Wellbeing · Men & Womens Health · Mental Health

April Writing Prompts

April 3, 2022 Looking for the Light2 Comments

Each month Sheryl at A Chronic Voice shares writing prompts for all with a chronic illness or disability to participate by sharing their story to help encourage others.

This month’s word prompts are:

Forgetting

Modifying

Maintaining

Vocalizing

Trusting

I’ve chosen three words, Forgetting, Modifying, and Trusting.

I’m choosing to forget all the times I couldn’t do something or go somewhere planned. It’s a burden that none should have to carry. It’s a big monkey on the shoulders that doesn’t go away unless you make an effort. When we make the decision that we are important, we learn to take care of ourselves. Part of taking care of ourselves is giving ourselves some grace. The house might not be as clean or you may have to skip an invitation with a friend or family member but you must come first in taking care of your health.

Reducing stress is taking care of ourselves, we have to plan activities, like a foot or hand mask, foot soak, meditation, and the list goes on. Remember self-care time is taking care of ourselves time.

My immune disorder has left me trapped in the house since before COVID started and it’s time to move forward in this Post Covid world. I’ve been getting my hair cut and colored, driven to a few appointments, and am going to sign up for a Self-Defense class. I have to modify my life, it’s too restrictive. If I start getting sick, then I’ll have to take stock but for now, it’s game on. I have a void in my life and it’s time to fill it.

I’m trusting that once I get active outside of the house that my health will improve, I know my mental health will improve as I work in the garden every day. I’ve ordered several very special flowers this year and bought more perennial flowers as well. My garden is my haven in the Spring and Summer and no matter how bad I feel the garden makes me feel better.

Thank you for reading and please be sure to check out Sheryl’s site, she is a wealth of knowledge and has a great archive.

Melinda

Celebrate Life · Fun

Today in History April 3, 2022

April 3, 2022 Looking for the Light4 Comments

Welcome to the Weekend Edition of Today in History. I’m so glad you’re enjoying the post. Have an awesome weekend.

1860

On April 3, 1860, the first Pony Express mail, traveling by horse and rider relay teams, simultaneously leaves St. Joseph, Missouri, and Sacramento, California. Ten days later, on April 13, the westbound rider and mail packet completed the approximately 1,800-mile journey and arrived in Sacramento, beating the eastbound packet’s arrival in St. Joseph by two days and setting a new standard for speedy mail delivery. Although ultimately short-lived and unprofitable, the Pony Express captivated America’s imagination and helped win federal aid for a more economical overland postal system. It also contributed to the economy of the towns on its route and served the mail-service needs of the American West in the days before the telegraph or an efficient transcontinental railroad.

1936

Bruno Hauptmann, convicted of kidnapping Lindbergh’s son, executed

Bruno Richard Hauptmann, convicted in the 1932 kidnapping and murder of the 20-month-old son of Charles A. Lindbergh, is executed by electrocution. On March 1, 1932, Charles Lindbergh Jr., the son of the famous American aviator who made the first solo, nonstop transatlantic …read more

1978

“Annie Hall” beats out “Star Wars” for Best Picture

The rise of the action-adventure blockbuster was on the horizon, but on April 3, 1978, the small-scale romantic comedy triumphs over the big-budget space extravaganza. At the 50th annual Academy Awards, held at the Dorothy Chandler Pavilion in Los Angeles, Woody Allen’s Annie …read more

1882

Jesse James is murdered

One of America’s most famous criminals, Jesse James, is shot to death by fellow gang member Bob Ford, who betrayed James for reward money. For 16 years, Jesse and his brother, Frank, committed robberies and murders throughout the Midwest. Detective magazines and pulp novels …read more

1996

Unabomber arrested

At his small wilderness cabin near Lincoln, Montana, Theodore John Kaczynski is arrested by FBI agents and accused of being the Unabomber, the elusive terrorist blamed for 16 mail bombs that killed three people and injured 23 during an 18-year period. Kaczynski, born in Chicago …read more

Melinda

Celebrate Life · Fun · Health and Wellbeing · Men & Womens Health · Mental Health

Stream of Consciousness Saturday #SOCS Prompt is Tip

April 2, 2022April 2, 2022 Looking for the Light25 Comments

Our Friday prompt for Stream of Consciousness Saturday is: “tip.” Use it as a noun or a verb. Have fun!

This prompt is easy, the tip of my tongue. The tip is so sore from rubbing it on my teeth and gums. I’ve read where a chip or something can set this obsessive behavior off. I just want it to stop. I feel like my tongue is going to split open. I’ve contacted my dentist and Phsychatrist but no word yet on a solution.

As for another tip, it’s actually several tips.

This is my first participation in at least a year so it’s a short one.

For more streams, rules, and tips for Stream of Consciousness Saturday, visit our host, Linda at:

https://lindaghill.com/2022/04/01/the-friday-reminder-and-prompt-for-socs-april-2-2022/

Have a great weekend.

Melinda

Celebrate Life · Fun · Health and Wellbeing · Men & Womens Health · Mental Health

Just Pondering

April 2, 2022 Looking for the Light2 Comments

By Live Bold and Bloom

Is stadium seating called bleachers because everyone gets blasted by the sun?

HAHAHAHAHA

Melinda

Celebrate Life · Fun

Fun Facts That Will Amaze You

April 2, 2022 Looking for the Light1 Comment

I’m so glad you are enjoying Fun Facts. I learn something new each week, even if it’s weird. I love hearing your comments!

Play-Doh started out as a wallpaper cleaner before the head of the struggling company realized the non-toxic material made a good modeling clay for children and rebranded it. (museumofplay.org)

In the 1940s, a retired schoolteacher came up with Candyland to entertain children who were hospitalized from polio. Because its color system required no reading, young kids could easily play. (toyhalloffame.org)

People started wearing pajamas, originally spelled “pyjamas,” instead of nightgowns so they’d be prepared to run outside in public during World War I air raids in England. (bbc.co.uk)

At Medieval Times dinner attractions, you eat with your hands because people didn’t use utensils in the middle ages. (medievaltimes.com)

Freelancers originally referred to self-employed, sword-wielding mercenaries: literally “free lancers.” (merriam-webster.com)

Enjoy!

Melinda

Celebrate Life · Fun · Health and Wellbeing · Men & Womens Health

How to Give Your Dog the Best Quality of Life

April 1, 2022 Looking for the LightLeave a comment

Introducing a pet dog into your life is a big commitment, and your new four-legged friend will change your life in many ways. So, before you decide to become a dog parent, you must ensure you are prepared for the work involved in caring for a new pet. If you feel that bringing a dog into your life is the right decision, you will find that your new companion enriches your life in many ways. Your new pet will be your constant companion and a truly loyal friend. As your dog brings so much joy to your life, you may be wondering how to give your dog the best quality of life. Here are some ways to ensure your new pet gets to live its best life every day:

Organize Training Classes

Socializing with your dog is an excellent way to ensure they have the best start in life. But, before you begin mixing your dog with other animals, you need to ensure they have had their vaccinations and the all-clear from the vet. Attending training classes once you can ensure your pet feels confident around other people and dogs, making life a lot easier for both of you when you are out and about. As well as being a valuable way to socialize your pet, training classes help instill good behavior in your dog from the start. The better behaved your dog is and the easier they find it to be around other animals and people, the better it is for you both. It is much easier to take your dog places if they are well-trained which means you don’t need to leave them at home.

Feed Your Dog a Healthy Diet

Your dog’s diet is vital to their health, so they need the right food to feel at their best. While it is tempting to feed your dog lots of treats and scraps of your food, it is best to stick to feeding them high-quality dog food. Choosing the right food for your dog will ensure that they get all the necessary nutrients to stay fit and healthy. Once you start looking at the many different dog foods available, you may struggle to know which is the right choice for your pet. Looking at walmart pet food and comparing the brands should help make it easier to find the best option. It is best to select a brand that says it is a ‘complete’ food as this will ensure it contains all the vital nutrients your adult dog needs.

Provide Plenty of Opportunities for Exercise

All dogs need exercise, so providing plenty of opportunities for your dog to be active is essential. The activity your dog needs depends on its age and breed. Too much exercise can be bad for young dogs and certain breeds, putting excessive stress on their joints. So, ensuring your dog gets the appropriate amount of activity for their breed and stage in life is essential to keep them happy and living their best life.

This is a collaborative post.

Melinda

Celebrate Life · Health and Wellbeing · Men & Womens Health

Please Welcome The Daily Addict To Survivors Blog Here — Survivors Blog Here Mental Health Collaborative

April 1, 2022 Looking for the LightLeave a comment

I’m thrilled to announce that The Daily Addict has joined Survivors Blog Here. I’ve been reading her posts for months and knew she would make a great addition to the group. Photo by Secret Garden on Pexels.com The Daily Addict -” I have a disease that has a spiritual solution” You can read her last […]
Please Welcome The Daily Addict To Survivors Blog Here — Survivors Blog Here Mental Health Collaborative