In an ironic twist of fate (or perhaps there’s a reason for this), ‘National Dump Your Significant Jerk Week’ and ‘National Rejection Risk Awareness Week’ fall on the same week, and that week is here! While the title of this ‘holiday’ might bring a chuckle or a rueful smile, it actually brings up an important concept that can help you manage stress: having negative people in our lives can bring on real stress and the problems that come with it. Research shows that conflicted relationships–those that are sometimes positive and other times involve competitiveness, excessive criticism, or emotional volatility–can actually take more of a physical and emotional toll than purely negative relationships. In other words, it’s better to have enemies than ‘frenemies’ (negative friends), because with enemies, you know what to expect from day to day. When ‘friends’ hurt us, it affects us more. Read…

Sandi