I was blessed to spend the weekend with some fabulous women. We were together to experience the Scotia Bank Half Marathon here in Vancouver. We had shirts made that said:
“Sole Sisters – Friends to the finish”
Seven of us were running and one “sister” currently healing from surgery, was there to support the rest of us (and to shop!).
When you have eight strong women together, you are bound to have different opinions.
The beauty with this group is despite the difference in opinions or the small frustrations that may pop up, these women LOVE and CARE for each other. They SUPPORT each other in their running goals and their personal lives.
They have held each other up through separations, career changes, illnesses, family chaos, carpooling the kids, and financial challenges. They’ll give you a hug when you need it but they won’t hesitate to kick your butt either.
They are STRONG women who will tell you the truth but they are also extremely caring, compassionate and loyal.
I did a little research into how friendships can affect your health and scientists believe that friendships help you live longer. Apparently being around others (instead of being alone) actually releases endorphins in the brain. With this group, not only are we getting endorphins by being together, but we got another dose by jogging! And if there’s endorphins released from laughing, well, we’ve got enough for everyone!
As you can see, having friends is important but how do you be a friend?
Being a friend is an investment.
Friendships require time, love, patience, respect, and honesty. In order to be trusted, you must be trust-worthy. If you want to be respected, you must be respectful. Loyalty is built over time once you’ve shown you are dependable, authentic and honest.
Your actions must validate your words.
One “sister” said to me on the weekend:
“If my partner can’t accept my friends, well, that’s a deal breaker for me. My friends are my family.”
Now there’s a woman I am proud to call my friend. She has a healthy outlook, understanding what’s required to balance her relationship with her partner with her relationship with her friends.
The bottom line: If you want good friends, you have to be a good friend.
I was very blessed to enjoy laughter, great conversations and the experience of supporting each other as we ran our half marathons. Some of us ran alone and some of us didn’t. It didn’t matter because we cheered each other on and were proud of the accomplishment we’d all achieved. We just ran 21.1K!
We were indeed “Friends to the finish”.
Remember to hug your friends and thank them for being in your life. You’ll know the good ones, they won’t desert you when the going gets tough or you are down in the dumps BUT they’ll also kick your butt if you are down there too long.
Good friends = Good life.
With a smile,
Tina
PS. In case you were wondering, the guy in the back of the photo was our waiter. He was hilarious!
