James Collister says "A relationship is like a three-legged stool. Standing on a floor of consciousness, the relationship rests on legs of trust, communication and legitimacy (respect and dignity), and the three legs are stabilized by that most vital of all ideas, commitment."

Think for a moment about your own most significant relationships - love, work, the lifelong friendships you treasure. All of these fit this model. By developing a true understanding of how the model works, you'll be able to create, design and maintain better, more vibrant relationships than you've ever dreamed possible.

From page 20 of the book:

"I am not naively suggesting, 'Let's all just get along.' We are already making stabbing attempts at trying to do this, and it's not making a difference. Given the animal nature of human beings, just working at "getting along" is not nearly enough. As a beginning, we must start to realize we are all related and currently living in a state of ignorance of how we actually relate to one another. If we will acknowledge our interrelatedness, no matter how dismal we may assess that to be, we can do something, one relationship at a time.

"If we don't begin to honor our relatedness and find ways to nurture our relationships, none of us will survive. This is not an exaggeration. Our very existence depends on our ability to live together. We must look at this possibility, and we must do it soon! We each have a decision to make. We can bury our heads in the sand and ignore the breakdowns all around us, or we can step up to the plate and begin to be responsible for the creation of our own experience and relationships."

James Collister was born in 1940 and is a native Californian. He was graduated from UCLA in 1964 with a bachelor's degree in psychology. In addition to his formal education, Jim studied Ontological Design and Speech Act Theory for six years with author and educator Fernando Flores, Ph.D., a well-known teacher of the Philosophy of Language and a respected international business consultant and entrepreneur. In the course of his life, Jim has been an active student and facilitator in many disciplines of personal growth and development, communication and relationships.

For 35 years, he owned and operated a highly successful management consulting firm, providing advisory services to well-known universities, healthcare providers, personal services firms, and manufacturing businesses. During his career, he has conducted over 1,000 educational seminars to teach effective communication, relationship and management skills, reaching over 75,000 participants.

Jim Collister is the founder of Excel in Living-Learning Seminars. Excel in Living presents public and corporate seminars in personal and business relationships, communication, and personal growth. The web site address for Excel in Living-Learning Seminars is http://www.excelinliving.com. Jim is a member of the Professional Coaches and Mentors Association and a graduate of the prestigious Newfield Group's course, "Mastery of the Art of Professional Coaching (MAPC)." He lives with his wife, Linda, in Corona del Mar, CA.