As a Canadian, I wasn’t aware that there was a day of recognition for individual women, long-time girlfriends, and their collective health – but there is, and it’s called National Girlfriends Day. It’s an ‘unofficial’ national holiday on August 1st each year in the United States, and I think that it’s a great initiative to remind ladies of their physical health and emotional connection to others.

I have always been aware of the different bonds which exist in my family between the women. While my father and brother might prefer to do slightly different activities, I can remember spending a lot of time as a little girl out shopping, dining, and sightseeing with my Mother and Grandmother. They were the ones who gave me the opportunity to spend time horseback riding, and we worked together as a team very often on manual tasks at my Grandmother’s hobby farm.

These days, my Mother and I still meet up for lunch when we can; very often, our conversation veers into issues of mental and physical health. Stressful life circumstances are most often shared with my Mother. I know that I can trust her to provide a second look into my concerns and thoughts.

My Grandmother remains a figurehead in the family, despite her very advanced age at 97. She still lives independently, very mobile and mentally astute, on her large property.

Although my time is more often spent ‘with the boys’ in my social life, I have found it increasingly likely that I will be invited to do things with the girls that I know.

I take a lot of inspiration from the women that I have had the pleasure of getting to know. They’re resilient, hard-working, good people. I find that they’re more inclined to talk about the positive things in life, which really helps my mental and emotional outlook. I try to share as much good news as I receive.

We have also been trying recently (albeit without a huge amount of scheduling success) to get together and work out as a group. This is really something that we’ve never managed to do before; we all maintain very different life schedules, and it seems that while one person is cooling down for the day, another is just rushing out the door.

However, even the motivation to get together and get active seems to have spurred our energies towards around this end goal. It’s a great time of year for it, too, with lots of opportunities to get outside hiking, bicycling, and swimming. Supporting each other with words of positive encouragement is probably one of the easiest ways that we can assist in each other’s health (for a full list of ways to support your girlfriend’s health, check out this article from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention).

The details of National Girlfriends Day are shared with the world via the friendly folks at Oscar Health Insurance, who are encouraging women to get regular check-ups for their health. To this end, they’ve created a wonderful infographic which I have included, below. These check-ups are easily forgotten in the busy rush of everyday life, so having a reminder never hurts – preventative medicine and healthy habits are cheap and will improve your overall quality of life.

Oscar Insurance is doing some really innovative and interesting work, as well; they’re integrating technology into the healthcare experience in new and exciting ways. This includes creating infographics like the one below and joining bloggers like myself to spread the word of health-related opportunities to people all over the world. Check out their site if you’re interested in learning more about their New York and New Jersey health insurance services.

I hope that you’ll check out their website and read up on some of the projects they’re spearheading. Please also comment below with any interesting ways that you have to keep yourself, and the other women in your life, as healthy and happy as possible!