Many of my female friends have been with me for decades. They have lasted longer than any boyfriend, hairdresser or home I have lived in. We have endured births, marriages, divorces, graduations and for some - even becoming grandmothers. Some of my current-day friends even endured the hormonal tidal wave called junior high school with me.

Looking back on various times in my life, I have been fearless. Taking big risks - starting a new business, traveling anywhere, speaking in public and even raising three children mostly on my own. I found that those fearless periods also run in conjunction with the times in my life that I was surrounded by female energy. I could not have raised my three kids without my girlfriends. In other words, my girlfriends not only empowered me, they emblazoned me.

Then, I can also look at various times in my life when I have been paralyzed by fear - not wanting to leave the house or office, not wanting to enter public restrooms or touch door handles due to a fear of germs and even clinging to a man, in hopes he could make it all better.

A few years ago, I started experiencing a sister-energy droughtin my day-to-day existence. I got married and many of my girlfriends relocated or already lived out of town. To top it off, my daughter grew up and moved out of my home. So, even her female energy was gone. Now, I am the only female in a house surrounded by males. My husband, stepson and dog - all testosterone carriers. Even our fish was a male betta - and guess what they do to females? Beat them up, then eat them. Lovely. In addition to this, we moved to the outskirts of town, which separated me even further from my in-town friends.

One day, last September, I decided to take the leap and reignite a group that I had started over 10 years ago, Women on the Verge. Suddenly my life was filled with female energy. Supportive, loving, laughing, crying, real female energy. The kind you can tell your deepest secrets to and still get a hug. The kind that shares even when they are tired. The kind that cheers with you during your triumphs and helps you keep walking when you fall. Beautiful.

In my thirst for female energy, I got so absorbed in the consumption, so inspired by the strength, I didn't even realize fully what was happening.

It was the Women on the Verge BlogTalkRadio Show that woke me up. Every Wednesday, I get to talk to smart, funny, beautiful women. Not just talk - but have real discussions about real topics that affect many of us. It's been cathartic. Suddenly I woke up. This is what I have been missing!

As wonderful and supportive as my husband is, he's not my girlfriend. As cute as the line, "My husband is my best friend." sounds - cute is not good enough.

During our "Living the Dream" radio show, we discussed how important it is for us to have a supportive community of women who have our back. The term "supportive women" is becoming more the norm. Jane Devin used the unscientific statistics of 80%/20%, however, I think that she is about right in her guesstimate. 80% of our female friends are supportive and 20% are not. Unfortunately, it's the 20% who get the most media attention and get the stereotype "mean girl" pin on their lapel.

The entire panel (Karen Monroy, Marcia Reynolds, Jane Devin and I) agreed that we need to pioneer efforts to make that 80% percentage even higher. That we are "evolving" as multi-roled women whose basic instinct is to be nurturing and supportive.

Here are three simple ways you can be supportive of your "sisters":

1.Listen with a compassionate heart
2.Let people be who they are, where they are
3.Share your sincere, heartfelt thoughts

Every day we make the choice to seize the opportunity to be supporting, accepting and nurturing to our "sisters" and feel empowered by their presence.

Ana Lewis is the founder of Women on the Verge, CEO of Co-Op Web, Inc and has one sibling - a very evolved brother named Oscar, whose wife, Kris is a member of WOTV and my "sister".