There are just some real simple secrets to living healthier, happier, and longer, and one of them is friendship. I was browsing through the April 2008 issue of Glamour magazine that featured an article on Friendship and shared that a recent study revealed that Americans have 1/3 less friends today than they did twenty years ago.
Can that be true with all the technology that is helping us to connect with one another and find old friends from high school or college on social media sites like Facebook, and other popular social networks? I never would have thought that.
I read some amazing statistics on a Landmark UCLA research on Women and Friendship.
By the way, I love how the original Webster’s 1828 dictionary defines friendship:
“one who has sufficient interest to serve another; genuine, pure real, not counterfeit, adulterated or false. True friendship is a noble and virtuous attachment, springing from a pure source, a respect for worth or amiable qualities.”
Here are some ways women & friendship are helping one another live healthier, happier and longer:
1. Live healthier and better.
2. Decrease stomach-quivering stress.
3. Release “Oxytocin” hormone (bonding, loving hormone).
4. Lower blood pressure, heart rate, and cholesterol.
5. Reduce risks of injury as women age.
6. Cut risk of death by 60% just by having a great number of friends over a 9 year span.
Note: This study is so incredible and found that not having close friends was as damaging to your health as being a smoker or overweight!
I know we all go through seasons in life where we may “not have time” to get together with our girlfriends like we once did; but I think it’s important to re-visit our relationships and carve out that special girlfriend time.
I have made it one of my goals this new year to reach out to a few of my friends who I have lost touch with due to our lives being busy. I have some amazing women in my life today that I regularly get together with.
I am also blessed and thankful to have a husband who supports my relationships with my girlfriends and sees the importance of girl-time without feeling insecure or jealous. I know that is not the case for some women.
Single ladies, that is one of things to discuss before you you tie the knot. If the man you are going to marry wants to isolate you from your friends or family, that’s a big red flag (I’d love to share more on that in a future post).
Let’s help each other live healthier, happier and longer and reconnect with your girlfriends this year.
“Life’s truest happiness is found in friendships we make along the way.” ~Unknown
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I totally agree with you definition of ‘diet’. And appreciate your including Webster’s original (and powerful) definition of friendship. Wow. Also, that study is something that needs more exposure. Thank you for a great post, Duong!
Blessings!
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Thanks for sharing this, Duong. Very interesting study and I love that definition. I love looking in old dictionaries. May the Lord bless you with many more sweet relationships that you have a long life! Be blessed…Lynn
support networks have always been a necessary part of our success as humans in many ways. the social media networking format simply provides a broader format for establishing, nurturing, and growing those integral support networks with fellow humans. you post is dead on!
i look forward to reading more from you and I love the site design!
I can totally believe that stat. I think we are so busy trying to live the American Dream, and to succeed that we forget what is important. I know I can speak for myself on that one, I have a insatiable appetite to succeed so my kids have options that I did not, but I do try to look inward every once in a while and try to remember there are things of importance that I am leaving behind. I am so thankful that I have 3 awesome girlfriends that I have been friends with for 13 years now, and when I get in that obsessive driven mode that always understand.
Great post, love this!!!