The world is built on relationships, whether we acknowledge them or not. We have temporary, all too brief interactions with people, strangers on the street and then we have the longer moments with others. It is these moments that we should be concerned with.

It is strange that we are more friendly, more polite with people we are not likely to ever run into again while we are not as nice to those we deal with frequently. Relationship problems and solutions are something we should be concerned with whether the problems are stemming from issues in our family life or at work.

Nothing says responsible adult like a job but nothing can make you feel like a sniveling kindergartner than problems in the workplace. There are bound to be personalities and people that you will clash with. There will be days where you fantasize about chucking Phil from accounting right out that plate glass window. How you deal with these potential problems and issues can make or break your success in your career. Earn the reputation as someone who does not play well with others and you will end up a freelancer, sitting at your computer waiting for your next assignment to come in.

To prevent problems:

o Understand that not everyone is going to have the same personality or way of looking at things. o Accept that not everyone has to like you or want to be your pal- but that everyone does have to work together effectively. o Know your own trigger emotions and how to better deal with them

For most people friends are those we gravitate to because they are so much like us or because they are the perfect complement to our personalities. They may play the straight man to our comic genius, feeding us straight lines like a well tuned vaudeville act. They may be the softer, mellow one that makes our own acid tongues a little easier to bear.

Then there are those friends that you just cannot even explain to yourself, the one that is one of the people you usually snip and snap at. Because they are so close to us but so different at the same time, there are bound to be little bumps in the road, little issues that crop up and make us wish we didn’t know them any more. While the old saying is that you can pick your friends, but not your family, fate might have different plans for you. It might be more realistic to say that you can’t always pick who you get stuck with, period!

To prevent problems:

o Keep in mind that friends are friends for a reason. o Always ask yourself if you really want to lose this particular friend. o Never say, email, text or send angry smoke signals to a friend unless you really, really mean it. o Always know that nothing says I am sorry like chocolate.