It’s no secret that women lean heavily on their friends, especially their girlfriends, in order to stay sane. When we just can’t take it anymore – the kids are driving us nuts, our husband doesn’t get it, our boss is being difficult – it’s our friends we turn to. In a 2004 Time Poll, 63% of women said they talk to friends or family in order to improve their mood. Women want and need to be heard. Try going online and searching for mothers groups: If you type in “blogs about mothers,” you’ll get 15 million sites!

“Friendship marks a life even more deeply than love,” Elie Wiesel, Writer and Holocaust survivor

When they’re stressed, women release the hormone oxytocin, according to Dr. Laura Cousin Klein, Assistant Professor of Bio-behavioral Health at Penn State University. This hormone encourages them to “tend and befriend” rather than reacting as men do, by “fight or flight.”

It’s simple really: it’s written in women’s genetic codes that they turn towards family and friends when they’re under pressure. Finding community makes us feel more powerful. Connecting with friends re-sets our inner equilibrium.

How many times have you spent a chaotic weekend afternoon with your family when your home is a disaster zone, kids are fighting, and chores need to get done but are being ignored by everyone? It’s about all you can do to gather up your brood and head over to a friend’s place for dinner. You’ve barely said a word to your husband all day and your nerves are frayed.

But… as soon as you walk through the door, your friend gives you a hug and a glass of wine, the kids run off to play, you sit down, and ahhhhh….. you start to relax. Before you know it, you’re laughing at yourself, and your friends are sharing their own war stories. Suddenly your husband looks human to you again, and you’re back to being comfortable in your own skin.

And, once again, you ask yourself: where would I be without my friends?

Tags: BUddha

This entry was posted on Monday, May 7th, 2007 at 10:39 am and is filed under Uncategorized. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.