quote for the week: Girlfriends

In an evening class at Stanford University the last lecture was on the mind-body connection--the relationship between stress and disease.

The speaker, head of psychiatry at Stanford, said that one of the best things a man could do for his health was 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 deal with stress and other difficult life experiences. Physically this quality "girlfriend time" helps us 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.  We share from our souls with our sisters, friends and evidently this 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 physcial health as smoking!  So every time you hand 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 blessed.  So let's toast to our friendship with our girlfriends, including grandmas, sisters, mothers, cousins, aunts.  Evidently it's very good for our health.