04 Jan 2013

The importance of friendship

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Women's health

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A recent head nodding session whilst reading an article from a women’s health and fitness magazine about the declining state of friends as we age left me with not only a sore head but a slightly sore heart. I was fervently relating with the gradual demise of my circle of girlfriends as the years ticked by. Once thought of as a temporary glitch, the accumulated years have left an emotional void of a girlfriend shaped hole in my heart. Seemingly this universal phenomenon is due to a focus on career, families, babies, or simply moving away. And other times, we gradually drift apart and naturally lose contact from our once close friends.

Personally, I find this declining kinship a bitter pill to swallow, as I can feel somewhat powerless to change this. A couple of close friends have recently moved interstate and this had me casting my mind back with warmth and fondness to the “good old days” of the hanging out for the whole day with a friend, of festival road trips, or camping out under the stars with my bestie. And I can’t help but pout as this has been replaced with a quick coffee catch up every couple of months. Close friends for me have a unique function of being supportive, uncomplicated and genuinely caring and enriching, whilst being emotionally and spiritually rewarding in our lives.

And it would appear that our friendships play a part in our longevity. An Australian study showed that a strong social network contributes to our wellbeing and better quality of life, and has highlighted the benefits that friends not only have on our emotional, but also on our physical health. This study concluded that those people who had a healthy social network had a lower incidence of mortality over a 10 year period. Surprisingly, those in the study who had relatives, including children did not seem to incur the same protective health properties as the group who had a greater friend pool, which goes to show the importance of our buddies.

I guess this is a good reminder of how important our girlfriends are in our lives and how important it is to invest time and effort into our treasured friendships that add more than just fun, to our lives. For me at least, I am going to find ways to spend more time with old friends and spend more time and effort to meet new friends. I’ll keep you posted.

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