The One Thing Every Woman Needs |
Come Out Of Her My People Revelation 18:4 |
"The One Thing Every Woman Needs The one thing every woman absolutely needs is friendship--not only for her soul, but also for her good health and longevity. In what writer Gale Berkowitz in Utne magazine has described as a landmark study, researchers from UCLA concluded that female friendships counteract life's daily stresses that can take such a toll on our well-being. While men think "fight or flight," women think "tend and befriend." You can significantly reduce stress at work if your boss has this quality. Click to find out what it is. When men experience stress--whether it's a crisis at work or being stuck in traffic gridlock--it triggers a flood of hormones that signal the body to stand and fight back or flee as fast as possible. Since 90 percent of the research on stress has been conducted on men, it was just assumed women had the same reaction. Guess what? They don't. Women have what study co-author Laura Cousin Klein calls a larger behavioral repertoire than fight or flight. One of the hormones that is released when men and women feel stress is oxytocin, which actually serves as a buffer to the fight or flight response. While testosterone reduces the effect of oxytocin in men, estrogen enhances it in women. So rather than fight or flight, oxytocin encourages women to tend and befriend--that is, taking care of their children and gathering with other women. And when a woman tends and befriends, even more oxytocin is released, which counters the stress and produces a soothing, calming effect. Surprise! One of the top reasons employees call in sick is... Klein recalls that "aha" moment she and her lab partner and study co-author Shelley Taylor had when they realized how differently the sexes respond to stress. When men in the lab were stressed, they isolated themselves from the others and worked alone. When women were stressed, they came into the lab and cleaned, drank coffee, and bonded with each other. Previous scientific research has shown that people who have friends are healthier, have lower blood pressure, less incidence of heart disease, and live longer. Could the tend and befriend instinct contribute to women's longevity? Klein says there is no doubt that it does and friends help us live longer. So ladies, the next time you get busy with the kids' activities, stressed at work, and you're facing a mountain of laundry at 10 p.m., don't try to make more time in your day by ignoring your friends. They are your source of strength. " |
The entire content of the following is quoted from Wal-Mart Connect "What's New Wal-Mart" 07 Dec. 2003 |
