Don’t have time for or feeling too tired to connect with friends? Here are 5 excellent reasons for you to pick up the phone and call that girlfriend … I often call my friends for virtual lunch when there isn’t time to get together. We munch and chat and laugh – I always feel more energized when I hang up that phone. (Now – I am talking about calling a friend, not a downer or an energy vampire!)
Health Benefits of Friendship
1. Cheering up a friend – random acts of kindness -can create something known as “helper’s high.”(endogenous opioids” internally produced chemicals that affect our brain like opium.)
2. When women tend or befriend more oxytocin is released which counters stress and produces calming effect. -UCLA Study on Friendship Among Women
3. Not having close friends and confidants is as detrimental to our health as smoking or carrying extra weight.-Nurses Health Study from Harvard Medical School(the famed!)
4. Close friends help keep your immune system strong during times of stress. -Ohio State University Researcher
(One of my favorite, friendly BLOGS is Happy Girl Musing. Terry Hernon MacDonald spent a week on this very topic – friendship. Check it out.)
5. The leading causes of premature death in the U.S. are heart disease, cancer, cirrhosis of the liver, non-car accidents, influenza and pneumonia, vehicle accidents, suicide and homicide. “All of them are tremendously influenced by social isolation, loneliness, and human fragmentation.”
-Dr. James Lynch, author, The Broken Heart: The Medical Consequence of Loneliness
Feel like a piece of burnt toast throughout the day? Or maybe your brains feel like scrambled eggs? You might be suffering from adrenal fatigue. Take our free Fatigue Questionnaire at http://fatiguebegone.com/tired_woman_quiz.htm to discover the true causes of fatigue.
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O.k. I’ll make that call. Good idea. I’ve been missing my friends and feeling down. I can see now that I need to change or I’ll never get over feeling so tired all the time.
thanks.
Dena
I tend to feel drained after being around people. Being alone, following some solitary pursuit, really energises me.
It’s the fruits of being an introvert.
Friends are ever so important. I didn’t realize how much I needed friends or how many friends I actually had until my mom was diagnosed with cancer. People came from all around to comfort us.
The “Barker’s Dozen” has brought many smiles to those who have extended their kindness to my fmaily. I plan to purchase several packs to donate to the Hospice Care organization that has been assisting mom. People who are ill will benefit greatly from these uplifting cards. Thanks to you and Richard for creating them!
Thank you Kathy!!! You are such a sweetheart. (those cards make me smile too – love this project).
Anyone else want to know about them just go to http://www.DogCaptions.com
Solomon, I can relate. I too am an “HSP” Highly Sensitive Person and need down time to recharge. Also am learning how to maintain “boundaries” – some people are energy vampires. Sometimes they include friends who are stressed to the max and can’t help themselves. For more info on this topic please go to:http://www.getreadyforlove.com/peoplepleasers.htm