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20 Zen Quotes to Help You Feel More Peaceful

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The philosophy of Zen Buddhism is that messages can be transmitted easily to people on the path to spiritual awakening. It doesn’t matter which spiritual path you take. Zen quotes can offer guidance and peace as you go through life.

Zen quotes encourage and promote happiness, love, humility, calmness, humor, and peace to people on any spiritual journey. As it eases and prevents suffering, a Zen mindset will offer peace of mind, calm, and tranquility.

Twenty Zen Quotes to Help You Feel More Peaceful

If you want to feel more peaceful, Zen quotes are a beneficial way to get you on the right path. The quotes will offer inspiration for engaging peacefully and keeping a tranquil state of mind. Choose one quote each morning to begin your day with, and you will start with a more peaceful mindset.

1. “Flow with whatever may happen and let your mind be free: Stay centered by accepting whatever you are doing. This is the ultimate.” – Chuang Tzu

You can’t control what happens in life, so make a conscious decision to go with the flow of things. Keep your mind clear and allow yourself to think of the beauty all around you. Even when you would have chosen something different, flowing with the life changes is essential.

No matter what you are doing right now, you can get through it and accept the situation. By doing so, you will maintain a peaceful mindset even in unpleasant situations.

zen quotes2. “As a bee gathering nectar does not harm or disturb the color & fragrance of the flower; so, do the wise move through the world.” – Buddha

You can go through life without harming or disturbing anyone or anything around you. Be kind, take only what you need, and leave a positive mark everywhere you go. Enjoy the things around you without destroying anything.

3. “Heaven and earth and I are of the same root, The ten-thousand things and I are of one substance.” – Zen Master Sêng-Chao

You are connected to the entire universe and everything in it. When you recognize your connections, you will learn to embrace the world around you and find peace in it.

4. “The aim of spiritual life is to awaken a joyful freedom, a benevolent and compassionate heart in spite of everything.” – Jack Kornfield

As Kornfield explains, spiritual living requires joy and compassion, which results in you feeling more peaceful. This Zen quote reminds you of your goal in regards to peacefulness in your life.

5. “Today, you can decide to walk in freedom. You can choose to walk differently. You can walk as a free person, enjoying every step.”- Thich Nhat Hanh

Thich Nhat Hanh speaks to a truth–you choose the life that you live and every path you take. If you want to experience more peace, you must decide to walk in freedom so that you can embrace every step. With the freedom to live how you want to, you will quickly find peace again.

6. “When we meet real tragedy in life, we can react in two ways – either by losing hope and falling into self-destructive habits or by using the challenge to find our inner strength. Thanks to the teachings of Buddha, I have been able to take this second way.” – Dalai Lama

Devastating things will happen in life, and there is no way to avoid it. When tragedy hits, remember this Zen quote to help you remember that you have a choice. You can choose how you will react by choosing between the options the Dalai Lama describes here.

7. “When you catch yourself slipping into a pool of negativity, notice how it derives from nothing other than resistance to the current situation.” – Donna Quesada

Even those with positive mindsets have negative thoughts sometimes. When you experience increased negativity, remember that it offers no benefits. Instead, being negative resists the situation and doesn’t allow you to learn from it or adapt.

8. “It really boils down to this: that all life is interrelated. We are all caught in an inescapable network of mutuality, tied in a single garment of destiny. Whatever affects one directly, affects all indirectly.” – Martin Luther King, Jr.

Everything that you do affects someone or something else. You are connected to the earth and the people in it. Choose to spread peace and joy, and you will experience more of it in your life, too.

9. “The only thing that is ultimately real about your journey is the step that you are taking at this moment. That’s all there ever is.” – Eckhart Tolle

As Tolle explains, the only thing you can be entirely sure of is what you are doing right now. The past becomes distorted with time, and the future can never be certain. Focus on the present and embrace the journey as you go along.

10. “Education breeds confidence. Confidence breeds hope. Hope breeds peace.” – Confucius

As you gain knowledge, you will become more confident. With confidence, you can be hopeful for the future, helping you feel calmer and more peaceful right now.

Anytime you begin to feel your peace slipping away, figure out what it is that you need to understand better. By reflecting and determining the knowledge that you lack, you can return to a peaceful mindset.

buddha11. “Not thinking about anything is Zen. Once you know this, walking, sitting, or lying down, everything you do is Zen.” – Bodhidharma

You don’t have to go anywhere or do anything special to reap the benefits of Zen. Remember this Zen quote as a reminder to work on your inner peace anytime you have a chance to clear your mind.

12. “The art of living… is neither careless drifting on the one hand nor fearful clinging to the past on the other. It consists in being sensitive to each moment, in regarding it as utterly new and unique, in having the mind open and wholly receptive.” – Alan Watts

You shouldn’t drift aimlessly through life, but you should be adaptable to change and obstacles. Focus on the present without allowing the past to weigh you down or sway your decisions. Keep your mind open, and accept everything around you and the situation you are experiencing.

As long as you do the things mentioned in this Zen quote, you will feel more peaceful. Let go of the past, focus your mind on the present, and remain open to what is coming.

13. “I discovered that it is necessary, absolutely necessary, to believe in nothing. That is, we have to believe in something which has no form and no color–something which exists before all forms and colors appear… No matter what god or doctrine you believe in, if you become attached to it, your belief will be based more or less on a self-centered idea.” – Shunryu Suzuki

You must believe in things you cannot physically see if you want to feel more peaceful. It doesn’t matter what you believe in as long as you recognize something deeper and more meaningful.

14. “When I feel like dancing, I dance. I don’t care if anyone else is dancing or if everyone else is laughing at me. I dance.” – Rachel Danson

Do whatever you feel like doing, and don’t worry about who is watching or making fun of you. Enjoy your life fully, and embrace your feelings in each moment. If you live this way, you will feel more peaceful right away, and your life will be full of joy and happiness.

15. “Silence is the language of Om. We need silence to be able to reach our Self. Both internal and external silence is very important to feel the presence of that supreme Love.” – Amit Ray

To find inner peace, you must spend time in silence. Find a quiet place to rest, clear your mind, and embrace the presence of love in your life.

16. “Learning to let go should be learned before learning to get. Life should be touched, not strangled. You’ve got to relax, let it happen at times, and at others move forward with it.” – Ray Bradbury

To move forward peacefully, you must learn to let go of anything that holds you back. You can’t keep obtaining more without letting go of some things, so allow life to flow naturally.

17. “And when they played, they really played. And when they worked, they really worked.” – Dr. Seuss

Live each moment of your life fully. When you are relaxing and enjoying life, embrace it and remain present. Pay attention to the little things that mean the most, and laugh whenever you can.

Likewise, when you work, work as hard as you can. Give every activity your complete effort, and don’t give up until you find a way to accomplish your goal.

If you can dedicate yourself fully to what you are doing right now, you will experience peace. Enjoy life and do the things you love to do, but work hard when the time calls for it.

18. “No snowflake ever falls in the wrong place.” – Zen Proverb

You didn’t end up where you are by chance. Every human is as unique as a snowflake. Just like snowflakes, the place that you are right now is where you are supposed to be.

19. “When you are present, you can allow the mind to be as it is without getting entangled in it.” – Eckhart Tolle

If you focus on the present, you won’t become overwhelmed with thoughts of the past or future. You will think more clearly when you are in the present, which results in feeling more peaceful. Let go of any thought that isn’t related to what you are doing right now.

20. “Every being is in search of truth, but small fears go on preventing you.” – Osho

Don’t let your fears prevent you from seeking the truth. With knowledge, your inner-fear will ease, so keep searching until you find the answers you need.

zenFinal Thoughts on Zen Quotes to Help You Feel More Peaceful

Referencing and memorizing Zen quotes will quickly help you feel more peaceful. You can use these quotes to remember the essential things in life and to help you check your mindset.

Anytime you notice negative thoughts creeping in, remember the wise words found in these Zen quotes. If you can follow the advice and experience given here, you will easily find peace in your life again.

Researchers Make an Enzyme to Break Down Plastic in Just a Few Days

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Scientists have recently created a “super enzyme” that can break down plastic in a matter of days. In fact, it breaks down plastic up to six times faster than an enzyme they’d created previously. The team of scientists from the University of Portsmouth re-engineered a plastic-eating enzyme called PETase. To speed up the plastic-eating process, they combined it with the new enzyme.

The super enzyme could help provide a simple solution for recycling polyethylene terephthalate (PET), the most common thermoplastic used in single-use plastic bottles, carpets, and clothing. While it’s cheap to produce, it takes hundreds of years to break down in the environment.

However, PETase can break it down in just a few days.

Professor John McGeehan, lead co-author and director of the Centre for Enzyme Innovation at the University of Portsmouth, helped develop PETase in 2018. Along with other scientists, he created the enzyme entirely by accident while trying to mutate it in a laboratory. The team hoped the unexpected finding would finally solve the plastic pollution crisis.

They engineered the natural PETase enzyme to break down PET 20% faster, but the new super enzyme delivers even better results. McGeehan told CNN that it works pretty well in breaking down plastic but still needs tweaking for commercial use.

However, scientists will keep conducting experiments to fine-tune the process. Successful developments could lead to existing PET being recycled instead of digging up more fossil fuels for plastic production. This would result in “huge energy savings,” according to McGeehan.

How the super enzyme breaks down plastic in only days

pop memeThe super enzyme combines PETase and MHETase, an enzyme found in bacteria that feed on plastic. The combination of these enzymes causes PET to decompose twice as fast as PETase alone. However, fusing the two enzymes created an even faster breakdown process, increasing the speed by three times.

Scientists who originally engineered PETase took part in the study. It included Professor John McGeehan from the Centre for Enzyme Innovation and Dr. Gregg Beckham, Senior Research Fellow at the National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL) in the US. The Centre for Enzyme Innovation takes enzymes from the natural environment and engineers them to create new enzymes using synthetic biology.

The journal Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America published the entire study.

Professor McGeehan said: “Gregg and I were chatting about how PETase attacks the surface of the plastics and MHETase chops things up further, so it seemed natural to see if we could use them together, mimicking what happens in nature.

“Our first experiments showed that they did indeed work better together, so we decided to try to physically link them, like two Pac-men joined by a piece of string. It took a great deal of work on both sides of the Atlantic, but it was worth the effort – we were delighted to see that our new chimeric enzyme is up to three times faster than the naturally evolved separate enzymes, opening new avenues for further improvements.”

The original PETase enzyme discovery provided hope that a solution to the plastic pollution crisis was on the horizon. However, PETase alone can’t work fast enough to eat through the mountains of PET bottles scattered across the globe. By combining it with the MHETase enzyme, scientists have gotten even closer to finding a solution to plastic waste.

How the ‘super enzyme’ was created

Both MHETase and PETase come from a bacteria that feeds on PET plastic called Ideonella Sakaiensis. Fusing the enzymes allows them to digest the plastic at much faster rates. Then, the plastic returns to its original building blocks, which allows for endless reuse and recycling. This would drastically reduce our dependence on fossil fuels like oil and gas.

To develop the super enzyme, Professor McGeehan used the Diamond Light Source in Oxfordshire, a device that uses intense beams of X-rays 10 billion times brighter than the Sun. It acts like a microscope, able to see individual atoms. This device helped the team map the molecular structure of the MHETase enzyme, giving them the blueprints to engineer the supercharged enzyme.

To do this, they essentially stitched the DNA of the two enzymes together to create a long chain. The biofuels industry often utilizes this technique to break down cellulases. However, McGeehan explained that the study marks the first in history to use enzymes for breaking down plastic.

This groundbreaking research involved scientific approaches, including structural, computational, biochemical, and bioinformatics. It provided insight into the molecular structure and function of the enzymes, which will help with further research. Perhaps in a few years, we’ll see the super enzyme being incorporated into recycling efforts.

Other solutions to break down plastic in the environment

 Plastic pollution affects every part of the globe, and it seems that it will only worsen, unfortunately. A recent report from The Pew Charitable Trusts estimated that the plastic volume in the oceans could nearly triple to 29 million metric tons per year by 2040. This total equates to a staggering 50 kilograms of plastic for every meter of coastline around the world. However, the report said that an aggressive, wide-reaching recycling strategy could reduce plastic pollution by 31-45%.

In April 2020, French recycling firm Carbios published a study on its PET-eating enzyme. They will test it at a demonstration plant near the city of Lyon sometime this year. The company hopes to adopt industrial-scale recycling within five years.

The waxworm, a member of the caterpillar family, could also provide a solution to the plastic waste problem. It can eat through many plastics, including polyethylene, one of the most pervasive plastics polluting waterways and landfills. The worms have certain gut bacteria which can effectively digest the plastic.

enzymeFinal thoughts on the super enzyme that can break down plastic in mere days

Finding a way to clean up plastics littering the planet is one of the most urgent matters of modern times. Luckily, it seems scientists are on the right track. The new super enzyme they’ve created may help reduce plastic waste. If they can scale the process, perhaps we can have a plastic-free world sooner than we think.

Psychology Explains What Causes Someone to Be a Sore Loser

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Have you ever played a game with someone who was a sore loser? No matter how fair the game, they pout and become angry because they didn’t win. There’s no way that you can always win in life or on a board game, but what causes these people to go over the edge just because they lost seemingly?

Maybe you know someone who is not a good loser, or you may be one yourself. The root of this issue possibly stems from anxiety disorders, and there is a way to cope with it. For instance, a person may be competitive, but when you add an anxiety disorder like GAD or PTSD to the mix, it can cause the person to tip the scales toward dramatic behavior.

Is Perfectionism at The Crux?

sore loserSome people desire to be perfect in all they do. They tend to overthink everything, which only causes them great emotional distress. Perfectionism is a drive to be perfect in everything you do, and you can see why this is an unrealistic goal.

There’s no way that a person can ever achieve complete perfection in their life. Having this mindset only sets you up for failure. Assume Sally just got a rejection letter from the college of her choice. Even though her grades were good and her application was unique, she wasn’t chosen.

Sally didn’t know how to handle being told “no” and rejecting her application. Overcome by grief and feeling like a failure, Sally grabbed a pillow from her bed and screamed into it as loud as possible.

It’s apparent that rejection stings deep for her. Indeed, she becomes so overwhelmed with emotions that she doesn’t know how to deal with them effectively.

The Self-Esteem of a Winner and Loser

Each person classifies themselves as a winner or a loser in life. You use all your experiences to create this scorecard that shows whether you lose more than win.

Some families are more competitive than others, which can drive an individual’s need to win. If you examined the person’s inner being and see what they think and feel, you would find that the loser mentality has messed with their esteem.

Every goal that this person doesn’t make and every failure that occurs adds another notch on their belt of things they’ve messed up in life. You can see that after a few losses, it can do something to your belief in yourself and your abilities.

Fear of Failure

Anxiety and fear can be used congruently as they mean the same thing. When you’ve had a few blows in life, then you might develop a fear of failure. You may be so afraid that you will fail that you won’t attempt anything new.

Carson works as a custodian at a local high school. He is among the happiest people around, and most people love him. However, few know that Carson has a college degree and can make much more money than he does.

Carson stays at his job because he feels comfortable there. He struggles to make ends meet but is so afraid of failing that he never goes beyond his comfort level. To him, the possibility of getting a denial letter or insinuating that he wasn’t “good enough” terrifies him.

Rather than face this rejection, he stays put. Does this make Carson a sore loser? The outside world may view his choices as bizarre because you will never have anything in life if you don’t take some risks; however, he’s just playing it safe.

Something may have happened to him that has made him the way he is today. He could have rejection or even abuse that is fueling his anxieties.

When the Past Dictates the Future

pop quoteLiz was a bright person who was full of life. About the time she turned 30, she began to experience problems with her nerves. She went to the doctor because the anxiety became so severe she could not function as she did.

The doctor looked over her paperwork and asked a question that shocked Liz. The doctor said, “Was your abuse physical, verbal, or sexual?” Lizz didn’t know how to answer because she kept this hidden. Her father abused her verbally.

With every bash about her weight, laziness, and all the other things he told her, she became more anxious in her interactions with the public. She feared that everyone would think the things that her father did about her.

The key here is this person that comes off as a sore loser when they fail again is channeling negative energy from the past. According to Harvard Health, your past can dictate your future, mostly when abuse happens as a child during those critical formative years.

For Liz, the abuse she suffered as a child was not common knowledge, and she had done everything she could to keep those past torments hidden. However, she couldn’t get over what had happened to her as it altered her thinking of herself.

Just like Liz, you may be a sore loser, but you need to find what is at the crux of the issue. If you were abused as a child and altered your perceptions of your abilities, you could work through these things in counseling.

Sore Loser or Spoiled Brat?

The term “spoiled brat” is undoubtedly a harsh one, but it’s a term that could be used to identify many people. Discipline methods have altered over the past few years, and some parents are afraid to hand down any correction to their children because they want to keep them happy.

Someone who is a sore loser may be merely spoiled. Assume you’re playing a board game with your children. Everyone is having a great time until your daughter, Nellie, loses. She gets so angry she throws the board game and all the components across the kitchen.

Nellie has never suffered from abuse; she doesn’t have a low view of herself and is a well-rounded child. The other obvious issue here is that Nellie is spoiled. She is a sore loser because she has been handed to and indulged so much in life that she expects to win.

While you certainly don’t know why she’s acting this way, the worst thing you can do is not to correct the behavior. You must make her pick up the game and apologize for her actions. If you don’t fix this mindset, she will grow up and go through life throwing similar temper tantrums when things don’t go her way, which will cause her significant issues.

Learning to Be Gracious

Thankfully, you can learn to be a gracious loser. Have you ever watched one of those beauty pageants on television where all the girls gather around the queen? When it’s down to the last two contestants, they’re both nervous standing there holding hands. Or, they wrap their arms around each other.

When the winner is announced, the runner-up always looks just as happy for the other girl as she would if she had won. They embrace, share smiles, and the “loser” is escorted off the stage. Do you honestly think that girl was happy when she lost?

She could have been seething with anger underneath because all the hard work she put into the pageant was for nothing. She wanted to win and be the queen, but now she goes home with the runner-up title. The key here is that this lady was a gracious loser.

No matter how hard it hurt her to see someone else take home the crown, she never let it show on her face. She knew the whole world was watching, and cameras were on her face. Thus, she didn’t dare do anything other than smile and cry along with the winner.

Life should be much like these pageants. So when your boss passes you over for a raise that you deserved or a promotion, congratulate the one who got it. Then go home and cry privately. Losing hurts, and there’s no way around it, but what you do with those failures counts.

sore loserFinal Thoughts on Being A Sore Loser

Are you a gracious loser, or do you tend to be more of a sore one? It would help if you found out what drives these actions so that you can correct them. According to Neuroscience News, a loser’s behaviors often show negative personality traits and cognitive dissonance, which needs to be addressed.

While no one likes losing, you don’t have to fall to pieces when things don’t go your way. You can learn how to overcome the issues that give you such great fear of failing.

Researchers Reveal the Shocking Impact of Pesticides In Our Water

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A new study by scientists from the Helmholtz Centre for Environmental Research (UFZ) proves how the impact of pesticides are damaging waterways. While pesticides do protect crops from invasive species of insects, fungi, and weeds, they may do more harm than good. They inevitably runoff into nearby streams, damaging aquatic communities, which are essential to the food chain. Marine life helps maintain biodiversity and purify water as well.

The team of scientists found that government regulations generally are lax when it comes to pesticides. Even more alarming, 80% of waterways exceed these superfluously high pesticide levels. They published these findings in the scientific journal Water Research.

 In the study, they explain that biodiversity loss will continue unless pesticide use decreases dramatically. The scientists suggest that governments perform a thorough environmental risk assessment of pesticides.

For two years, the team studied pesticide contamination at over a hundred monitoring sites at waterways flowing through mostly agricultural land. These lowland regions were located in 12 federal states in Germany. Not surprisingly, they found that pesticide levels in most waterways drastically exceeded government standards.

The science showed that most waterways were impacted by pesticides on dangerously high levels.

pop memeIn a staggering 81% of small streams, the team found exceedingly high RAC values. These refer to the concentration of an active ingredient specified in the official regulations of pesticides. To prevent negative effects on aquatic communities, this level should never exceed the threshold. Sadly, in 18% of the waterways, over 10 pesticides surpassed the RAC recommendations.

“We have detected a significantly higher pesticide load in small water bodies than we originally expected,” says Prof. Matthias Liess, an ecotoxicologist at the UFZ and coordinator of the small water monitoring project.

Scientists found the following in some of the waterways tested:

  • The insecticide thiacloprid exceeded the RAC value by more than 100-fold
  • In 27 streams, the insecticides clothianidin, methiocarb, and fipronil exceeded the RAC value 10- to 100-fold
  • Herbicides such as terbuthylazine, nicosulfuron, and lenacil also surpassed the RAC value 10- to 100-fold

After analyzing the data collected, the researchers found that the impact of pesticides affect aquatic invertebrates more than previously thought. These species react to pesticides at much lower concentrations than prior pesticide risk assessments suggest. Of course, the sensitivity to pesticides depends on the species studied. For example, insects like caddisflies and dragonflies have much lower (1.000-fold) pesticide thresholds than snails and worms.

“For sensitive insect species, the pesticide concentration in the small lowland streams is the most relevant factor that determines their survival. In contrast, other environmental problems such as watercourse expansion, oxygen deficiency, and excessive nutrient content are less important. For the first time, this study allows a ranking of environmental problems,” says Liess.

The study found that current pesticide regulations grossly underestimate aquatic species’ sensitivity to the chemicals. Prior environmental risk assessments of pesticides only included data collected from laboratory findings, artificial ecosystems, and simulation models. However, according to Liess, real-world results differ vastly from the laboratory findings.

The research by the German scientists is the first to study the actual ecosystem rather than just a simulation. Now, there’s much more clarity on the harmful impact of pesticides on waterways and marine life.

Rainfall can make pesticide levels even higher in waterways.

“In addition to pesticides, many other stressors act on organisms in the ecosystem. These make them much more sensitive to pesticides. Natural stressors such as predation pressure or competition between species are not sufficiently considered in the risk assessment. But these obvious problems often go unnoticed because the degree of pesticide contamination and the effect of this have not been validated in the field — neither in Germany nor in other countries,” he says.

Throughout the project, the team discovered that pesticide levels differed depending on the type of samples taken. They took two types of samples: scoop and event samples. Scoop refers to a random sampling of water specified by the EU Water Framework Directive. In an event sample, an automatically controlled sampler takes water samples from the waterway following rainfall.

“The event sample provides much more realistic results because the pesticides enter the water bodies as a result of the increased surface run-off from the field, especially during rain,” says Liess. Researchers found that pesticides measured 10 times higher after rainfall compared with scoop samples.

Matthias Liess says this:

“In order to realistically depict the water pollution, samples must therefore be taken after rainfall events. That’s why we need an official regular environmental monitoring to be able to assess the amount and the effects of pesticides.”

He and his team demand that governments incorporate these findings into new pesticide approvals immediately.

“We are still using pesticides that were approved many years ago based on an outdated risk assessment. This must therefore change as soon as possible. Only in this way can we preserve the biodiversity in our waters and with it the services that these biotic communities provide for our ecosystems.”

This study only included the impact of pesticides on waterways in Germany. However, in the US, many waterways have also been contaminated by the impact of pesticides. A new study published in March 2021 by the American Chemical Society found that 90% of streams sampled contained extremely toxic pesticide breakdown products.

“The pesticide industry has conditioned Americans to believe the fiction that these highly toxic pesticides just magically vanish,” said Jess Tyler, a scientist at the Center for Biological Diversity. “This study should be a wake-up call to the pesticide regulators at the Environmental Protection Agency and the Biden administration, that they can’t keep ignoring the well-documented, systemic pesticide pollution of our landscapes and waterways.”

waterwaysFinal thoughts on a study showing how pesticides impact waterways and the water supply

Pesticides allow for higher crop yields since they protect agricultural products from insects and fungi. However, they also have a dark side: they cause lasting, widespread degradation to waterways and animals. A new German study revealed that over 80% of waterways contained dangerously high pesticide levels. After rainfall, pesticide levels increased, even more, up to ten times higher in some cases.

Waterways in the US also contain exceedingly high pesticide levels. The US produces more food than any country in the world, so pesticides are a necessary evil. However, it’s clear that pesticides cause damage to our waterways and animal life. Are the consequences worth it? That’s a difficult question to answer, but the health of our planet hangs in the balance.

Man Bikes 1400 Miles to Hear His Organ Donor Daughter’s Heartbeat

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One dad decided to bike 1,400 miles to hear his organ donor daughter’s heartbeat on Father’s Day. Five months had passed since Bill Conner said goodbye to his 20-year-old daughter Abbey. Of course, he was still mourning the loss of his daughter. But, he wanted to do something to honor her memory.

So, he decided to bike 2,600 miles from his hometown of Madison, Wisconsin, to Fort Lauderdale, Florida. He would visit Broward Health Medical Center, the hospital that recovered Abbey’s organs for donation in January.

On May 22, 2017, the day after his son Austin graduated college. Conner set out on his journey. He told CBS News that Abbey would’ve wanted him to do this. And, he wanted to do it as well to commemorate her short life.

A tragedy for Conner’s family

Abbey’s life tragically ended during a family vacation to Cancun, Mexico, over winter break. Shortly after they arrived at the Hotel Iberostar, Abbey and Austin went to the pool to relax.

Apparently, they decided to have a few drinks at the pool bar but started feeling unwell soon after. No lifeguards were present. A guest saw the brother and sister facedown and unconscious in the pool and rushed to alert hotel staff. Unfortunately, by the time someone noticed them and pulled them from the water, Abbey had suffered irreversible brain injuries.

She was flown to the hospital in Fort Lauderdale, where doctors desperately tried to save her life. However, too much damage had been done. They kept her on life support until they could harvest her organs for transplant.

Abbey had decided to become an organ donor when she got her license at 16. She and her family had discussed it previously. Abbey was a very giving, caring person, so her family wasn’t surprised at her decision. Little did Abbey know at the time that registering as an organ donor would save four men’s lives.

Bill wanted to meet the transplant recipient of Abbey’s heart

Bill said his daughter always looked out for her friends and loved helping people in need. So, becoming an organ donor just went along with her values and compassionate nature. His daughter’s untimely death devastated her family. However, knowing she was still helping people even after she passed took some of the pain away.

As the family said their last goodbye to Abbey, a 21-year-old in Lafayette, Louisiana was on death’s doorstep. There, doctors told Loumonth Jack, Jr. that he had 10 days to live after suffering a heart attack. Facing imminent heart failure, the young man knew only a miracle would keep him alive.

That’s when doctors informed him that he’d need a heart transplant. By a stroke of luck, there was no waitlist at the time. It just so happened that Abbey’s heart would end up saving his life.

He’s alive today because of Abbey’s choice to become an organ donor. Three other males, ages 20 to 60, are also getting to live thanks to her. In addition to her organs, Abbey donated her eyes and other tissues.

How Bill connected with the young man

Conner contacted the donation center that handled Abbey’s organs about his bike journey to honor her. He wanted to meet every organ recipient, so the center sent letters to all four of them. However, the only one who responded was Jack Jr., the heart recipient.

The donation center gave Jack’s phone number to Conner, who talked with him several times. They had plans to meet in Baton Rouge – 1,400 miles from his hometown – on Father’s Day.

Conner said that Loumonth seemed very humble, courteous, and respectful. As a dad himself, Conner could tell the young man had been raised well.

When Conner finally met Jack that Father’s Day in 2017, he already felt familiar to him. They both walked toward each other with open arms, sharing a minute-long hug. Jack’s friends and family were there to witness the special moment as well.

Jack then pulled out a stethoscope so Conner could listen to his organ donor daughter’s heartbeat once again. Conner listened intently and heard his daughter’s heart thumping inside Jack’s chest. It was an emotional moment, and both men began to tear up.

It meant everything to Conner to hear his daughter’s heartbeat again. This moment reminded him that Abbey lived on in Jack and the three other transplant recipients. Knowing that they’re still here thanks to Abbey, and it’s her heart beating inside Jack, kept his connection with her alive.

The meeting allowed Conner to see firsthand how Abbey’s life benefited others. Without her, Jack wouldn’t be standing today. He felt incredibly grateful for the second chance she’d given him. He wanted to repay her somehow, but knew he couldn’t. The meeting with Conner gave him a chance to express his love and gratitude, however.

Jack’s family also recorded his heartbeat so Conner could listen to it along his bike ride. It was a long journey, but it was worth it to reunite with his daughter.

be kind memeFinal thoughts on the man who biked 1,000+ miles to hear his organ donor daughter’s heartbeat

Meeting with Jack allowed Conner one last chance to hear his daughter’s heartbeat. She’d been taken away from her family far too soon, but her legacy will live on. At only 16, she had made the decision to become an organ donor. This selfless decision would end up saving four people’s lives, making Abbey a hero even after death.

After Jack and Conner spent a little more time together, Conner continued on his way. He wanted to spread awareness about all the beautiful reasons to become an organ don along his journey. He also shared his daughter’s story, hoping to inspire others.

To him, being an organ donor means overcoming selfishness and giving others another shot at life. This puts things into perspective, as many people wait months or even years for transplants. Your heart, lungs, or other vital organs could help save someone’s life. If you’d like more information on becoming a donor, please visit The National Donate Life Registry.

Wise Woman Shares an Inspiring Message About Knowing Your Self-Worth

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Knowing your self-worth can help you unlock your full potential and discover endless possibilities. However, seeing yourself in a new light takes courage and the willingness to stray from your comfort zone. For most of us, the process happens gradually over time, and requires a lot of inner reflection.

For Celeste Frenette, it took a life-shattering event for her to realize her value. It all began on a cold, rainy November night.

“I ran out of the house in the rain, sobbing and shaking,” she recounts. “I was done. This time, I was going to leave. He yelled for me to wait, and I stood there at the end of the driveway as rain washed over me.”

In this moment, she had to make a decision. She felt empty and tired of hearing the same lies day after day. Promises kept getting broken, but she remained faithful and hoped things would change. One night, though, Celeste couldn’t bring herself to endure the pain any longer, and knew she deserved much better.

Her fiancé wouldn’t let her go that easily, after all they’d been through. He ran to her with an engagement ring and proposed to her in the driveway. He told her he didn’t want anyone else, but still, the words seemed hollow.

“As a little girl I dreamed about what it would be like to be loved. To have someone choose me to get engaged, to get married, have a family, have a home,” she said. “This really wasn’t how I thought it would go.”

In that moment, she didn’t know what to say. She’d waited years to hear someone say “marry me,” but imagined it differently in her head. She didn’t want someone to bribe her with a proposal just so she wouldn’t leave.

Knowing your self-worth sometimes means losing it completely

She saw only two possible paths she could take. One path would lead her to marrying him, of course. They’d been together for 10 years since high school, so marriage seemed like the next step for them. After all, he wanted to marry her, and she and her family loved him.

“And, there was this pathway to the right where I would turn around, leave, and never look back,” Celeste said. “Where I wouldn’t tolerate another lie, and instead of choosing him, I’d choose me. That pathway scared me – it felt dark and unclear and unfamiliar.”

In her head, she imagined this path being lonely, painful, and without love. She never thought that it could end up being beautiful, and freeing. Maybe she’d actually feel happier taking this path.

However, in that moment, she chose to take the safe route.

“I didn’t know yet that in life, I’d get more of whatever I said yes to,” Celeste says. “Over the years, our marriage was cluttered with more heartache. I reached many crossroads, and every time I held my breath, waves of knowing rushed into my body, and I pushed them down.”


She kept choosing the path to the left, the safe path, even though it caused so much pain. To her, it felt like the only option, because she didn’t know what awaited her on the other path. Her unhappy marriage drained her energy, but it was familiar to her. However, the alarm bells kept going off. She learned that knowing your self-worth comes with doubt that one must push through.

“When I was pregnant with my daughter, I found myself standing by the kitchen sink sobbing, gasping for air, pneumonia filling my lungs…the grief of abandoning myself was overwhelming me.”

The pain of taking the left path had finally caught up with her.

Celeste had reached her breaking point at last

“For 16 years, I kept telling myself I’d be fine. I pushed through,” she said.

She told herself it could’ve been worse, and that things would improve soon. However, all the pain built up inside her, and her body kept reminding her that she really wasn’t okay.

“This path that felt safer, wasn’t safe for me,” Celeste realized. “Everything that I had suppressed for years began to rise up, demanding to be seen until I was in the hospital and I could barely breathe.”

The path less followed might be the right one to knowing your self-worth

During this time, she had days where she felt like giving up. Every breath seemed more painful than the last. She felt like the regret and heartache was suffocating her.

“My body was showing me what my heart already knew. A nurse sat beside me one day; she looked me in the eyes and said: ‘You need to want to breathe. You have to fight for yourself.’”

However, Celeste didn’t know what she was fighting for anymore. In her head, her life was over, and she felt like her daughter deserved a better example. She would never want her daughter trapped in a marriage like hers.

Celeste said this:

“I was at a crossroads again, but this time, I needed to choose a different path. Not the safe one, or the easy one, but the right one. I wouldn’t survive the one I was one.”

Her intuition screamed loud and clear, and she knew what she had to do. She found her inner strength, and breathed despite the pain in her chest.

“I decided the time of abandoning myself was over. My daughter will meet a mother who isn’t afraid of the truth, who keeps her promises to herself. Who loves herself enough to rewrite her story and who makes the same choices for herself that she would make for the person most precious to her. ”

Knowing your self-worth means choosing yourself, even if it feels scary

“Our lives are not already written, they are being written. I’m writing mine right now, and it’s not over yet,” Celeste says.

We all reach a crossroads at some point in our lives. We can choose the left path that feels safe and familiar, where we don’t have to change. However, to stay here, we have to give up our power, our inner fire.

“When you look to the right, maybe it’s dimly lit, maybe it’s scary, but to your core you know it’s freedom. If you’re at a crossroads in your life right now, take a deep breath. Your birthright is in these choices. These big and little everyday choices make up the story of your life, and the choices may be hard, but they’re yours. At any given moment in time, you have it within you to choose differently.”

15 Signs of an Emotionally Wounded Person to Never Ignore

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You meet people every day that come from all walks of life. Do you ever look into their eyes and see pain? There are emotionally wounded individuals all around you, yet their scars and internal injuries aren’t always easy to detect.

Perhaps, you’re the one who suffers from scars from past trauma. Physical wounds eventually mend, and so does the pain that comes with them. However, the emotional wounds don’t heal so quickly, if at all, and they seem to cause the most pain.

Fifteen Signs of Being Emotionally Wounded

Since you’re surrounded by folks at work, school, the stores, and all facets of your social life, it would help if you recognized the signs of someone with deep inner wounds. This is especially important before you get involved in a relationship with them.

Additionally, if you have injuries that have never healed, some of these signs may be present in your life. Here are the 15 most recognizable signs among those with inner turmoil.

1. Crying with Ease

Someone who cries a lot usually has emotional issues. The pain within the subconscious impacts them in a capacity they cannot imagine. This person brings tissues to the movies or has a box sitting next to them while reading a moving book.

When something touches their heart, the tears flow effortlessly down their cheeks. Keep in mind that some people are more tender-hearted than others, so not all people who are weepy have inner turmoil. However, more often than not, a person who cries a lot has a reason their tears are so close.

emotionally wounded2. Ruminating on Bad Memories

Do you remember the old-fashioned record players that were so popular in the 1970s and 1980s? When a record got a scratch on it, the recording would skip. If you were in another area of the home, it would skip over and over until you stopped it.

Your bad memories can be much like a broken record, and they will continuously play in a loop until you fix it. It’s challenging to forget a painful experience that shook you to your core, but you must accept the hurt so you can move on.

3. Easily Annoyed by Others

Having emotional turmoil can make you act and behave unbecomingly. For instance, does the slightest thing annoy you? For example, a child dancing and watching their favorite cartoon might not bother most adults, but you find it grating to your nerves.

When your emotional centers are in overdrive, the slightest disturbance can drive you mad. Consequently, it can be tough to live with someone on edge, and everyone around you will walk on eggshells.

4. Very Sensitive

Inner wounds can be a trigger for emotional responses. Has anyone ever told you that you wear your emotions on your sleeves? Someone who is overly sensitive analyzes your words and usually can’t take a joke.

Some people will withdraw socially as their emotional state takes a toll on them. While taking time alone is suitable for reflection, closing yourself off is never good. It would be best if you allowed others in and have good relationships to help heal these wounds.

5. Feeling Like You’re Never Enough

Do you feel like you’re never enough no matter what you do? It’s, no doubt, your perception of the world around you more than the reality of the situation. Trauma can cause poor self-esteem and a low sense of self-worth. If you always feel like you’re outside looking in, it can be a sign of inner wounds that need to heal.

6. Feeling lost

When you have emotional wounds, everything around you becomes questionable. Your emotions are so confused that you don’t know what to think or feel anymore. Your brain has become entangled because of the abuse, and it doesn’t process things as effortlessly as before.

If you find that nothing makes sense and your emotionally exhausted all the time, then it’s a sign that you have wounds that need to heal. You feel lost, and like you don’t belong anywhere, only because your trauma defines you and rules your life.

7. Too Vulnerable

Have you ever watched a wrestling match where the teams were not equal? One participant was terrific, and the other one defenseless. Putting two people of unequal calibers together makes the weaker one vulnerable to injury.

Being overly vulnerable is often a sign of being emotionally wounded. This person becomes cautious and responds aggressively to the smallest of circumstances. Their view of the world around them is distorted, so they act and react very differently.

cruel8. Feeling Stuck

Have you ever seen a movie where someone was stuck in quicksand? They can’t move forward or backward because the gravity and weight of the sand are paralyzing them. The emotionally wounded individual often feels they can’t make any sudden movements for fear that the world around them will collapse.

Therefore, you see people stay in unhappy marriages for decades, knowing that they are miserable. They’re afraid to move forward as they fear change.

9. Everything is Cut and Dry

Do you see everything as cut and dry and ignore the fact that things can fall into the middle category? Someone with emotional wounds lives with deep emotions, and things can go from hot to cold in one minute with their moods. Since their view of things is so skewed, they often have issues with their self-esteem, contentment, and relationships with others.

10. Loss of Interest

Dealing with an emotional issue can make your focus and concentration suffer. Your motivation may be off when you have such negativity inside, and these emotions can rule you.

It’s easy for depression to creep in when someone is dealing with such inner wounds, and depression can make getting out of bed each day a struggle.

When you don’t enjoy going out to dinner, hanging out with friends, or a hobby that’s been a part of you, your emotional wounds are likely causing the lack of energy.

11. Numb Emotions

Another clear indication of emotional issues is numb emotions. Have you seen someone that doesn’t display empathy for others? This is often a sign of a trauma that’s affected them.

Many children in the foster care system have been through horrific abuse, and they turn off their emotions so that they cannot be hurt further. According to Law for Families, a foster child has often experienced things like abandonment and instability, and it’s not so easy to get over these events.

According to Childhood Trauma Recovery, the brain goes into protective mode and can turn off emotional responses by simply shutting down or stunting the amygdala region. While foster children often experience this in great magnitude, it can happen to anyone who has been through emotional turmoil.

12. Overthinking Everything

Do you overthink every little thing in your life? Even deciding what clothes to wear to work can be an overwhelming decision. When you overthink everything, then even those simple choices become significant obstacles that bring you great discomfort. Your wounded mind is afraid of getting hurt, so it will do whatever can protect you from further trauma.

13. Lack of Concentration

The emotionally wounded often have trouble with concentration. Even if you’re not meditating on your problems, your body can still feel the tension and strain from your scars when you’re an emotional mess who can focus on work or running a household.

14. Poor Sleep Schedule

It seems that most people who suffer from trauma and are emotionally wounded face the most significant issues at night. The chaotic and unhealthy sleep patterns will wreak havoc in your life. Rather than resting and repairing your body, you lie awake ruminating about the past.

15. Feelings of Worthlessness and Hopelessness

When you have deep emotional wounds, it’s common for you to feel both helpless and hopeless. You will blame yourself and feel stupid for being hurt so much. You will also feel hopeless and broken beyond repair.

When you feel like you are at the lowest point of your life, try to reach those people who are really close to you. Let yourself be cared for and loved because social support could increase your self-esteem and make you feel better about your circumstances.

emotionally woundedFinal Thoughts on the Most Frequent Signs of Emotionally Wounded People

Life has a way of throwing you things that you’re not ready or equipped to handle. Perhaps you’ve been betrayed by someone you love, or you’ve been devastated by abuse. When these things happen, you become emotionally wounded and traumatized by the events.

The thing that hurt you so profoundly might have only lasted a few seconds, but the lasting imprint it makes on your mind and heart is there for a lifetime. Thankfully, there are ways to move past these hurts so that you can live a good life. There is power in meditation, counseling, journaling, and using positive affirmations, and today is a good day to take a step towards healing.

5 Habits That Can Help Create a Spiritual Revival

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During your busy life, no doubt you’ve learned the importance of self-care. You may exercise and eat well to stay physically healthy and mentally strong. But when was the last time you took time to nurture your spiritual self? Here are five habits that could potentially help you create a spiritual revival and care for your soul.

Caring for your spiritual self

It’s believed that to live a happy, fulfilled life truly, you should pay attention to every aspect of what makes you who you are, including your mind, body, emotions, and spirit. Also, it is easy to exercise and eat well to stay physically fit or to enhance your mind through reading or strengthen your emotional health. But you probably consider helping your spiritual life less often. Here are some simple habits you can practice to find spiritual renewal and revival.

5 Habits That Help Create A Spiritual Revival

Try adopting these five habits to reawaken your spirituality.

revival1 – Faith

Spiritual awakening in your soul begins with finding faith in something outside yourself. Faith is said to be a commitment and trust in God. Many people find that faith in God helps them unleash a spiritual revival and overcome challenges in their life. Having faith centers you when the world around you looks bleak. Studies show that faith enhances positive emotions. For many people, their religious belief is a significant resource for their sense of well-being, especially in times of trouble.

Buddhism emphasizes the importance of spiritual awakening through mindfulness and meditation. Christianity emphasizes prayer. Reading the Spiritual texts can help you develop your relationship with God and refresh your soul. Life is busy, but try to find ways every day to focus on your spiritual journey of faith.

Find a community of like-minded people to encourage your faith and grow spiritually.

2 – Remember

Remind yourself how far you’ve come and all the people who have helped you along the way. Remember the difficulties, those things that may have seemed to be tremendous obstacles. Hindsight enables you to see how you’ve overcome these obstacles. Remembering your past is essential as a human. It anchors you in the present. It gives you a sense of continuity. Remembering can also help you hold on to details of who you are and who you are becoming. Here are some ways you can remember your past and unleash a spiritual revival.

  • Celebrate

Some people like to celebrate their remembrances with a dinner to thank those who have helped them along the way. Whether it’s your friends, family, or co-workers, it’s always good to stop and remember where you’ve come from and celebrate the growth.

  • Recount

You may want to recount the past through pictures or a video. Some people write memoirs of their life to tell all they’ve experienced.

  • Re-envision

As you remember your past, it can motivate you towards your future-the dreams and aspirations you want to pursue. Maybe you’ve gotten off track, and the act of remembering can get you moving again towards your goals.

3 – Gratitude

Gratitude is having a thankful heart. It’s feeling an appreciation for something valuable and meaningful to you. Research continues to emphasize that gratitude helps your overall sense of well-being. One study found that high levels of appreciation contribute to your physical well-being, give you better sleep, and enable you to sleep longer. The positive feelings you get from showing appreciation boost your spirit, making you feel refreshed and revived. Here are a few ways you can practice gratitude every day.

  • Journal

Keep a journal to write down the things you’re grateful for every day. You may be thankful for something small or big, but finding gratefulness in your day can make a big difference to how you feel about your life.

  • Choose gratefulness

Decide to be grateful amid situations that are especially challenging at work, home, or school. You may want to write down a sentence of your commitment to be grateful. You could write something like, “Today, I’ll be grateful when I’m at __________by practicing thankfulness about_________.”  Of course, you may not succeed every day at being grateful in certain situations, but keep working on it, and over time you’ll be able to experience more thankfulness.

  • Positive words

It’s easy to slip into negativity, especially with your words. Try to add more positive comments to your daily language. Avoid put-downs and sarcasm that tears you or others down. You can grow in gratitude as you practice it every day. You’ll find you feel happier and feel a greater sense of revival in your soul.

pop meme4 – Give back

One of the best ways to revive your spirit is to think about others. Look for ways to give back to the people in your neighborhood or your community. Giving back promotes your mental and spiritual health. Here are some benefits of helping others.

  • Feel happier

When you help others, you feel happier. It promotes a greater sense of well-being. Plus, getting involved in your community or neighborhood helps you feel part of something bigger than yourself.

  • Feel like you belong

Helping others often introduces you to new people, new parts of your community you may not have known about otherwise. You’ll feel less lonely and isolated as you get more involved in your local community.

  • Purpose

Volunteering can enhance your sense of purpose. You will feel more fulfilled and a sense of reward when you’re giving to other people. It gets you involved in places you may not have before, so your world looks bigger.

  • Revival

Helping other people improves your view of life. It gets your mind off yourself and onto the greater good. This gives you a sense of revival and renewal. It offsets feelings of isolation and loneliness.

Where can you help?

    • Run to the grocery for a friend or neighbor
    • Donate or volunteer at a local charity
    • Volunteer at a nursing home
    • Donate to an animal shelter
    • Mentor a student or an adult
    • Knit blankets for preemies at hospitals
    • Call older family members

5 – Nature

There’s nothing like a mild, sunny day to lift your spirit.

Studies confirm that being in nature reduces your anxiety and stress. It lowers your heart rate and helps you stay more focused. Hippocrates, sometimes called the father of medicine, said that it was essential to experience “airs, waters, and places” to improve physical and mental well-being. In the 1200s, sick people were told to eat well and get into the garden’s open-air to recover their health. Being overly exposed to artificial environments adds to your anxiety, feeling overwhelmed, impatient and irritable.

It’s thought that the multi-sensory experiences of nature stimulate your mind and spirit and lowers your stress levels.

  • Sight

Seeing a tree, a pond, or a grassy meadow helps you relax. The benefits of seeing natural beautify include:

    • Improved health
    • Sense of well-being
    • Lower heart rate
    • Increased attention

One part of this same study, as listed above, found that people in a hospital room that overlooked trees, flowers, or water were more positive than other patients without this view. And abstract art caused increased anxiety in hospital patients.

  •  Sound

Noise pollution does more than hurt your ears. According to the same study as listed above, being exposed to loud, constant human-made noise can cause heart problems, stress, and sleep problems. The quietness of nature helps you escape the noise. Hearing the wind, water, or a birdsong enhances your sense of peace and renews your spirit. You’ll feel calmer and more peaceful.

  • Smells

It’s easy to ignore the smells of your environment, but being in nature can impact your mind, body, and spirit. When you smell flowers, trees, shrubs, grasses, and even rotting matter, it calms you. Your sense of smell connects to your emotions and mind. Scents enhance your memories and affect your mood. Certain smells strengthen your brain function and even your behavior. Researchers are still learning how the smells of nature benefit health and well-being.

Final thoughts on Creating and Experiencing a Spiritual Revival

It’s incredible how easy it is to forget about nurturing your soul. You may do everything you can to be healthy physically. And you probably know how important it is to stimulate your mind and improve your mental health. Hopefully, these five habits will help you encounter the spiritual revival of your soul. It’s an integral part of who you are as a person.

Whether you choose to practice gratitude, help others or remember your past, whatever you do can renew your sense of well-being. Of course, don’t neglect your faith, but find ways to continue your spiritual journey of faith.

***This article is intended for entertainment purposes only and is not intended to be taken as financial, health, or other type of advice

12 Omega 3 Foods to Improve Mental Health and Relieve Anxiety

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If you know anything about nutrition, you know that numerous reports are floating around regarding the power of omega-3 foods. They’re well known for their abilities to reduce high triglyceride levels to help your heart health, but did you also know that they are widely used to help with mental health issues too?

Yes, omega-3s are known to ease the pangs of psychiatric conditions, according to the National Library of Medicine.

Understanding the Nutritional Importance of Eating Omega-3 Foods

There is good and bad fat that you consume in foods. The excellent variety is known as polyunsaturated. You can get this from foods that contain both DHA and EPA.

It may appear you need a science degree to understand all this, but DHA is also known as docosahexaenoic acids. You ingest this from eating fatty fish or taking fish oil supplements. Now, when you consume plants and plant oil, you will get EPA or eicosatetraenoic acids.

Additionally, these foods provide alpha-linolenic acids too, which is sometimes called ALA. It all sounds very confusing, but it’s pretty simple. These good fats help nourish every cell in your body, and you don’t need to take supplements as you can get them by altering your diet to include nutrient-rich foods.

omega 3 foodsMental Health and Omega-3 Foods

When it comes to your mental health, many people would do or try anything to get relief. Dealing with anxiety and panic day in and day out can be overwhelming. Could the answer to gaining mental clarity and putting you in a better place mentally be as easy as adding some nuts or fish to your diet?

According to the National Library of Medicine, diet modifications can help or even reverse mental illness. For better mental health, here are the foods you should be eating.

1. Salmon

First, salmon is a high-quality protein that fills you up without adding extra calories. It also has a long chain of omega-3 fatty acids that have vast benefits. Eating this fish once a week can help lower your blood pressure, reduce painful inflammation in your body, and decrease the risk of heart disease.

2. Tuna

Tuna is perfect for your heart as it contains omega 3 fatty acids, plus it can help lower blood pressure. When you eat this fish regularly, the high levels of zinc, manganese, and selenium can help improve your mental well-being and immunity.

3. Mackerel

Mackerel and salmon can be used interchangeably in recipes, but there is a slight taste difference. This fish has monounsaturated fatty acids in it, and these fats are known to impact blood glucose levels directly. Additionally, it will lower the visceral fat levels in your body, which helps your mind and heart.

4. Herring/Sardines

Herring and sardines are lumped into one category because they provide remarkably similar effects on the body. These fish have exceptionally high levels of omega-3 fatty acids, and the abnormally high levels are known to help in not only brain development but maintaining good health too. Since these fatty fish reduce inflammation, they can provide an immense number of enumerations to the body.

5. Wheat Germ

Eating wheat germ is always a good idea due to its nutritional value. Not only does it give you an excellent source of vegetable proteins, but it’s also a good source of healthy fats along with a nice helping of fiber. While all of this is terrific, it’s the magnesium content that has a direct effect on your brain health.

6. Walnuts

Every day your body obtains oxidative damage caused by free radicals. Eating foods like walnuts can help to fight this damage. It can also help to decrease the bad cholesterol in your body or LDL. This helps to keep atherosclerosis and other serious conditions at bay.

Since this is considered a super plant source, this omega-3 food has a higher level of fatty acids than any other nut out there. To say that its mental boosting abilities are well documented is an understatement. The National Library of Medicine states that eating these can help with cognitive decline and neurodegenerative disease.

While peanut and almonds get a lot of praise, the walnut is often overlooked for its excellent health benefits.

fatty acids

Know the ten signs of a fatty acid deficiency.

7. Spinach

Spinach is one of the Omega-3 foods that should be on your list for many reasons. First, it’s loaded with nutrients and has minimal calories. Second, it’s considered a superfood because it can help with your bone health, skin, and hair.

Additionally, it packs a powerful punch of protein and critical vitamins and minerals that will increase your brain health.

8. Tofu

Tofu is a staple on any vegan diet. You can fix it to take on the flavor of whatever you cook with it. Not only is it a great source of protein, but it’s chocked full of amino acids. It has all eight of the primary amino acids your body needs to thrive.

When it comes to your brain health, you need manganese, selenium, and phosphorous, magnesium, and zinc, all of which this plant provides.

9. Oat Germ

While you may not have heard of oat germ, it’s remarkably like oat bran. It contains many nutrients your mind needs to be in top shape. The key is that the germ has more than twice the fiber of bran and packs a powerful punch of iron. Iron is responsible for many functions in your body, and you need it to stay mentally sharp.

10. Chia Seeds

Chia seeds don’t get nearly the praise they deserve. These tiny seeds can totally help you to repair so much in your body. For starters, they can help to regulate blood sugar levels, and their high level of magnesium is excellent for your mental health.

11. Dark Chocolate

Dark chocolate is a fantastic treat to someone who has a sweet tooth, but it’s also good for you. It’s acceptable to have up to two ounces each day but make sure it’s only the dark and not milk variety. Dark chocolate is full of antioxidants that can improve brain function as well as increase heart health.

12. Eggs

A few years ago, eggs got a bad rap for having a high cholesterol level. However, the health benefits went unnoticed. Thankfully, those bad reports are being overshadowed by praise for the high protein and amazing health benefits.

While eggs do have high cholesterol, it has little impact on the arteries in your heart, according to a study conducted by Harvard Health. Eggs are full of protein and vitamins, and they’re low in calories. Their vitamin profile contains B, C, D, E, K, and more. The real benefit to eating eggs is you’ll get a heaping dose of Choline, which is known to improve your brain health.

While these are just a few of the main foods you need to incorporate into your diet, there are many others too. Try adding cheese, soybeans, cauliflower, broccoli, and Brussel sprouts too.

Keep These Things in Mind When Eating Omega-3 Foods

It’s generally safe to consume either omega-3 foods or supplements with these healthy fats in them. However, those who take any treatment that will thin the blood should be careful. Things like chia seeds are known to dramatically impact the blood’s thickness, which can be dangerous if you’re already on a treatment regimen to thin your blood.

If you decide to get supplements versus ingesting Omega-3s foods naturally, you’ll need to make sure that you don’t pick a supplement with toxic contaminants added to them. Things like mercury are often added and take away from the health benefits.

Another consideration is the pairings used with omega-3s foods. Many fat-soluble vitamins, like A and D, are often paired with these foods and supplements. If you get too many of these vitamins in your body, it can become toxic, which is why getting your nutrition from nature and not in a supplement form is always the best option.

Finally, while these foods are known to help with your mind, they are never and replace medical help from a trusted physician. What works for one person might not work for another, and it’s good to be under the advisement of mental health professional as you navigate the trial-and-error period with your mental health journey.

omega-3 foodsFinal Thoughts on Mental Health Support by Omega-3 Rich Foods

Are there any foods on the list that you already consume regularly? Perhaps you found a few that you love and need to incorporate into your meal planning. Eating healthy and for your mental well-being doesn’t have to be bland or tasteless.

There are so many foods that mother nature provides that taste amazing, but they can also nourish and heal the body. No wonder so many people are turning to a plant-based lifestyle to improve their overall health. Nature provides the best medicine for what ails you, and it comes with little to no side effects or huge co-pays either.

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