The Happiness & Helplessness of Friendship
Girlfriends make us healthier, happier, less stressed, live longer and feel hopeless?
Yes. Female friendships contribute tons of benefits to our physical and mental health. They create bonds that strengthen us when we’re weak and teach us lessons that we need to learn. (Thanks Glinda for that lesson!)
But they can also leave us feeling helpless (as we share in the following newsletter) … and that’s okay.
Share your thoughts below on how your friends make you feel. Life’s better together – with our girlfriends!
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Girlfriendology 101
Guide to the Online Community for Women based on Female Friendship
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March 20, 2009 |
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 Dear Girlfriend,
Did you have a fun St. Patrick’s Day?(Did you catch our girlfriend giggles on Twitter?)
It’s Spring (at least here in the Midwest) and that means things are starting to green up. Daffodils are popping, trees are budding and kids are playing outside.
There’s something about Spring that releases a sense of power and a promise of good things ahead. It’s kinda like the beginning of a friendship and seeing the potential for sharing life together. Like the end of Winter, we should be down-right giddy about the blessings of friendship. Any time or season, friendships make us happy - and that’s a great thing!
Get out & enjoy the nice weather – with a girlfriend. Have a fun, friend-filled Spring!
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New friends. Old friends. Silly friends. Work friends.
Best of all … Girlfriends.
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| TODAY’s Girlfriendology Live Radio Show guest: SUGAR JONES
 We’re thrilled to come to you LIVE on BlogTalkRadio every Friday at 2:00pm EST! Make it a ‘Fun Friendship-filled Friday’ on BlogTalkRadio/Girlfriendology! Call in and talk, type your comments during the show OR listen after it airs.
Today’s special guest: SUGAR JONES. Back from her ‘hug tour’ of Austin, TX, this energetic, hilarious mom has a daily show called Chicks Who Chat (with her girlfriend ‘Classy Jen’). TODAY and every Friday at 2:00pm EST – www.BlogTalkRadio.com/girlfriendology
Listen to last week’s show with RACHEL FERRUCCI. Join us next Friday for JYL – founder of Mom It Forward (empowers women to achieve success through service, strength and socializing). Have a fun, friend-filled Friday!
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 What’s a DAME to do?!Well, for one thing, the ‘dame’ sisters who came up with this GREAT Girlfriend Game have now partnered with Girlfriendology on our upcoming Spring / Mother’s Day Girlfriend Gift Guide. Watch for the …
Girlfriendology / Games for Dames Girlfriend Gift Guide
on April 1 for all the games, clothing, books, products, events and more -
anything you’d recommend to a girlfriend!
If you have products/events/gifts for this Girlfriend Gift Guide (or have a girlfriend who wants to sell to women), please let us know ASAP.
 Plus, get 15% off at SlimPerfect™. SlimPerfect makes slimming swimwear and activewear for women sizes 8-18. Just use “Girlfriendology” as your discount code and get 15% off through April 30th. (And watch for an upcoming review of these great beach, pool, workout, yoga and even evening attire for women who just need a little extra ‘ump!) Buy now for those summer events and trips!
And, if you need some green girlfriend gifts, check out these!
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The helplessness of being a friend …
My girlfriend is hurting. As I shared in a recent blog post (and she and her husband approved and appreciated), her husband is dying. They’re at peace (at least right now) but have a ‘bucket list‘ that they’re determined to attack.
She’s one of my Friday morning coffee girls. Each week we catch up on how things are going, what she’s dealing with and what we can do to help. Last week she made a few requests and I found some amazing support and connections through Twitter girlfriends. (You know who you are – and you ROCK!)
My goal from our meeting this morning, is to collect 150k Frequent Flyer miles on Delta/Northwest for their trip to Italy. If you would like to contribute, please let me know. If you can help get the word out, that would be fabulous. (We’re going to launch a website for them soon to share their story.)
I’m honored to be able to help – and thankful that she’s open to receiving. (That’s often hard for us women, right?) I’m humbled by her situation and strength. I’m happy to be her friend and hopefully help her through this incredibly difficult and sad situation.
But I’m also feeling very helpless. I can’t fix it. I can’t research ‘magic pills’ or miracle Doctors. All I can do is be her (and his) friend and support them with my love, hugs, tears and prayers.
That helpless feeling is tough as a friend, but for everything with great ‘highs’ (like having a wonderful, amazing friend), there is the equal opportunity for those ‘low’ times. But that’s just the ebb and flow of friendship.
Do you have a friend who needs your help? Or someone who you need to connect with? Be the friend you’d love to have. And be honored, thankful, humbled, happy and even sometimes helpless. That’s what girlfriends do.
THANKS Girlfriend! Have a fun, friend-filled day,
Debba Haupert, Girlfriendology founder
Follow and join: Twitter/Girlfriendology, Facebook Girlfriendology Group, Linked In
p.s. LISTEN in TODAY and share your comments with Girlfriendology and our girlfriend guru guest SUGAR JONES! 2:00pm EST online at BlogTalkRadio. Thanks! And, we’d love to hear your comments and ideas! Just email me.
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Tags: friendship, girlfriends, happiness, helplessness
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One Comment
I think the thing I appreciate the most about girlfriends is their ability to make you laugh. LIfe can get really heavy sometimes, and there’s just something about a girlfriend who can make you laugh and “lighten” things up a little.