Once we become adults, most of us recognize without a doubt that social skills are critical to success and happiness throughout life. We need to effectively work with others, resolve conflicts, communicate, and make and sustain relationships. Friendship is not a structured curriculum taught along with reading and math. Children usually learn the subtle nuances of social interaction through trial, error, and experience, and by watching the adults around them succeed in social situations. But, so do we! We adults must learn these things as well ... remembering to:

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  Effectively work with others - Assumptions are the termites of relationships. ~Henry Winkler
• Resolve conflicts - Forgiveness does not change the past, but it does enlarge the future. ~Paul Boese
• Communicate - When people talk, listen completely. Most people never listen. ~Earnst Hemingway
• Make and sustain relationships - To know when to be generous and when firm—that is wisdom. ~ Elbert Hubbard

Friendship is born at that moment when one person says to another: "What! You, too? Thought I was the only one." ~C.S. Lewis