Just about everything we do involves relationships.  Family, work, friends, romance and just about any interaction we have with other people is essentially a relationship.  The connection can be close and frequent or distant and occasional, but they still affect how we go about our daily lives.  Some are with people we rarely (or never) see in person.  With social media flourishing and interconnectedness a part of many people´s lives, we often have ´friends´ that we have never met in person.  We may have relatives or old friends that live far away, but they are people we still have in our lives in some degree.

                Relationships can vary as widely as the colors in an artist´s palette and we can mix and match aspects of them to create the experience we want.    So, if you want to enjoy life and to be happy and succeed in doing whatever you choose, you must forge and nurture relationships with the people in your life.  Often people feel that ´building relationships´ is a term used exclusively in sales or business development.  In fact, it is crucial to getting (and succeeding in) any job, in having a harmonious family life, and in, well, relationships, whether they are with friends or are romantic in nature.

                I have always believed that the key to any relationship is communication.  The better the communication, the more likely the relationship is to be prosperous and beneficial to everyone involved.  This can help to eliminate confusion and suppositions that can lead to misunderstandings.   Everyone has been in the situation where they perceived something or assumed something that was not necessarily the case, but was unclear until open communication took place.  We´ve all received E-Mails that conveyed a message or tone that wasn´t intended, showing that some forms of communication can be limited or incomplete.  To build and maintain successful relationships, we need to try to ensure that we make sure our messages, both verbal and non-verbal, are clear and allow for two-way communication to circumvent any potential issues brought on by miscommunication.  So, look around, and you´ll see relationships wherever you look in your life.  Keep the communication gates open to make the best of them!

Bill