It’s Thursday and I’m declaring it “Go Have Some Fun With a Buddy Day.”  I doubt that Hallmark is going to pick up on this and come up with a card, but for me it’s off to check up on an old friend who had medical problems. Today he becomes my excuse to pick up a few fat filled, cholesterol-dominated, corned beef sandwiches, complete with pickles and potato salad and go check out his recovery.

Stay with me for one more paragraph, because there’s a point here.  We all work hard and we all have days when we’re frustrated. The one thing we tend to forget so often is that life is about friendships – not work. We get so wrapped up in the day-in day-out challenges that we forget we need to step away from business and hang out the old “Gone Fishing” sign on the door and leave Mayberry!   (Let’s see how many of you are old enough to understand that one!)

So, my suggestion for today is close up early and catch up with friends. Remember that texting and e-mailing and Twittering aren’t substitutes for looking someone in the eye. And while work is important, the friendships in our lives are more important. And the networking that comes with those friendships will be more than enough “work” to justify taking the time away from the office to brighten someone else’s day.