A friend just sent this to me and I want to share it with you.
They Teach It at Stanford
As reported by a woman who had just finished taking 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.”
first novel, The Bridge Club. The printer’s proofs should arrive next week and for the first time I will actually get to hold the finished product in my hands. Crazy as it sounds, it’s kind of like having a baby and I’ve been pregnant for four years! Writing a novel does tend to get all-consuming. The Bridge Club should be available through Amazon, Barnes & Noble, and Chapters/Indigo within the next few weeks. I’ve been fortunate to receive some great advance praise and hope you will find it a good read. My experience of self-publishing through iUniverse is a story in itself. What an education – but it’s all been good and an exciting ride! If you are on that bumpy road yourself, I would love to hear your experiences. There are some excellent websites on writing and self-publishing and I’ll add links when I get my act together on this blog and my website. I’ll be happy to add others you have discovered. The story is fiction but based on many of the experiences my real-life bridge club has lived through from our crazy days in the 1960’s through to the ‘zoomer’ years we share now. The shocking situation faced in the final chapter might happen to any one of us. Zoomer is a term I first heard used by a well-known Toronto media personality, Moses Znaimer, and I love it! Somehow it captures the energy that most of the people I know in my age group still exude. 65 years old – yikes! How did that happen so quickly? Never mind! Appreciate each day, savor what is good, deal with what isn’t as best you can, and move on, I say! The Bridge Club is first and foremost about the power of friendship. To me that’s one of the most important aspects of life and I feel so fortunate to have wonderful friends who help make my life rich and full. We laugh a lot and support each other as we share the ups and downs of this unpredictable world. I hope your life contains at least one true friend. I’m always happy to hear stories about strong, honest, friendships so if you want to share yours, please do. Young or old, crazy or serious, individually or within a group, club, or organization, there are good tales to relate. This I know. Right now I’m in the process of getting my website up and running and will get the word out when it is ready. I’ll include helpful links that offer information, advice, food for thought, and good ideas that in some way add positive vibes to our lives. Your input is always welcome! Of course there will be some bridge hands to play as well. Love the game! I’ve got tons to blog about so hope to see you back soon. Carpe diem! Time for me to see what today has to offer. May you make your day the best it can be!
