• At work, with colleagues or your boss
• At home with family, or with a troubled teenager
• With the in-laws, or the neighbors
• With friends, and business partners, often involving money.

Do you recognize these symptoms?

You feel irritated; you're knotted-up with frustration or just plain ready to explode, like a pressure cooker with a full head of steam.

It happens to the best of us. Whether it's an argument with your wife, aggravation because a driver cuts in front of you, or a disagreement about the best way to do a job, relationship conflict is part of every day life, as is the frustration that goes with it.

I was raised on the tough inner city streets of Chicago's West Side and I know that sometimes relationship conflicts can spiral into something much scarier. I've seen men lose their lives in arguments with other men; dumb arguments about women, money and turf.

But you know what? Conflict is not just a street thing. It exists everywhere.

At the end of the day, all life is simply a dance. Most of us try to move around the dance floor without stepping on anyone else's toes, but sometimes crushed feet are simply unavoidable!

Relationship conflict produces stress, hurts friendships, and can cause injury and death. In the world I came from conflict over women, money, pride and territory were the cause of many a tragedy. We can't always avoid relationship conflict but we can learn to manage it without violence.

That way, we use conflict to improve our lives and to learn from past mistakes.

More tips on managing relationship conflict.