Girlfriends Are Healthy

I received this the other day and I'm sorry I can't credit the author because it is so true.

Evidently, they Teach it at Stanford In an evening class at Stanford the last lecture was on the mind-body connection - the relationship between stress and disease. The speaker (head of psychiatry at Stanford) said, among other things, that one of the best things that a man could do for his health is to be married to a woman whereas for a woman, one of the best things she could do for her health was to nurture her relationships with her girlfriends. At first everyone laughed, but he was serious. Women connect with each other differently and provide support systems that help each other to deal with stress and difficult life experiences. Physically this quality "girlfriend time" helps us to create more serotonin - a neurotransmitter that helps combat depression and can create a general feeling of well being. Women share feelings whereas men often form relationships around activities. They rarely sit down with a buddy and talk about how they feel about certain things or how their personal lives are going. Jobs? Yes. Sports? Yes. Cars? Yes. Fishing, hunting, golf? Yes. But their feelings? Rarely. Women do it all of the time. We share from our souls with our sisters/mothers, and evidently that is very good for our health. He said that spending time with a friend is just as important to our general health as jogging or working out at a gym. There's a tendency to think that when we are "exercising" we are doing something good for our bodies, but when we are hanging out with friends, we are wasting our time and should be more productively engaged-not true. In fact, he said that failure to create and maintain quality personal relationships with other humans is as dangerous to our physical health as smoking! So every time you hang out to schmooze with a gal pal, just pat yourself on the back and congratulate yourself for doing something good for your health! We are indeed very, very lucky. Sooooo. let's toast to our friendship with our girlfriends. Evidently it's very good for our health. Forward this to all your girlfriends - and stay in touch!



Recently, I reconnected with a best friend from elementary school. In many ways, it seemed as if we were back in grammar school walking down the country road sharing our innermost feelings. There is something comfortable about sharing a history. We reminisced about life gone by, and there was a peacefulness from all of the years passed, but a tinge of sadness from all the things lost. It was so nice to be able to pick up where we left off and yes, share a glass of wine, laughter, gal talk and a bit of our heart.

Then, last week I celebrated one of my favorite friends 88th birthday with a group of gal pals. Again, what a treasure She is a special lady, who I met at work several years ago and we have remained friends . I love the group this brings together and the fun and wisdom which we all take away.

Sooo, I am toasting the friendship with all my friends--and what we share and the support we give each other.