Sometimes our relationships are a joy.  They bring us pleasure and make us feel good about the world.  Sometimes just keeping them going can be hard work. 

Much has been written in recent years about the differences between the way men and women think and behave.  The consensus seems to be that on the whole, men like systems.  They direct their creative energies into solving problems.  In contrast, women tend to be more emotional.  They want to explore their feelings, analyse them and make sense of them.  They may ruminate over what's not working while a man wants to take immediate action to fix it.  This can easily lead to conflict.

The differences between the way men and women operate may cause conflict in relationships.  Understanding the ways we deal with and express emotions can help us to change our expectations of our partners and find calmer ways to negotiate difficulties.

Now is the time to do something to make sure that the relationships you have will make you happy.  What are the things you should be doing now to improve relations between you and the people you love?  What's holding you back?  What are you going to do about it?