Women need to remember whether or not they have a boyfriend or a husband in their lives, girlfriends are vital to our support system. Often times women may neglect their relationships with their girlfriends when they are dating someone or are married only depending upon that one person to fulfill their needs. There are many different emotional obstacles that women may experience in their lives that only a woman might be able to understand or fulfill.
Girlfriends are the only women we choose in life for ourselves. A sister, mother, grandmother, aunts, and cousins, are critical in our development in terms of learning about who we are and where we come from. We need to consider the educational, cultural, and religious beliefs that have been ingrained in us throughout our lives. However, a girlfriend from a different background may enhance our understanding of the world that we may not experience with a family member.
Women need their friends to help them through the highs and lows of life, through life’s problems or experiences we encounter. There is no better “fix” than having girlfriends to vent to, listen to, shop with, have lunch or a glass of wine with, support, or hold us up through a storm!
Husbands or boyfriends may not necessarily enjoy the shopping ventures or have the patience to look at clothes, jewelry, furniture, unless it’s in their nature. Also, men are considered to be fixers, or they like to fix things and may not have the same thought process or approach when solving problems.
Benefits of having close women friends in our lives:
- Longevity– According to the research, women who have strong female ties with their girlfriends live longer than women who live without girlfriends.
- Stress– According to the research in the trending instinct, women under stress have the need to “tend and befriend.” Women are usually nurturing and seem to tend to the cloyoung and support our friends throughout our lives. It proves that having time with friends can actually reduce stress levels in our bodies! UCLA School of Medicine found that when women are with their girlfriends, our bodies emit the feel good hormone called oxytocin which reduces everyday stress.
- Self Esteem– Our self esteem may go up significantly as women according to a study by Dove that states that 70 percent of women feel prettier because of having a special relation with female friends.
- Health Factor– Women who do not have strong social ties with other women are “at risk” to having health issues like being a smoker, or struggling with their weight.
Every seven years, women lose about half of their close friends, according to Huffington Post. Reasons for this include “moves, career transitions, relationship changes and different life stages each bring a shift in our friendships that frequently leave us drifting apart from some friends.” That is why it is important to make new relationships throughout your development.
Women, stop and think….Who have you connected with recently, or who do you miss right now in your life that you might want to reconnect with? After reading this article, take a moment and reach out. Your self esteem, your health, your stress level, your longevity will all benefit from this experience in connecting with our female friends!
