People.

A story as life could have told it.

Two persons cooperate closely as decision-makers. A close partnership develops – it is going to last decades.

They are very different when it comes to values, experiences, interests and needs. However their talents seem to complement each other quite well. Their “mindsets” are very similar.

As far as daily routine is concerned, however, they are totally different. The one is more cautious and diligent, the other more agile and a little crazy.

Two protagonists from different worlds have found each other. You would think they complement each other ideally. But they are not doing all that well together. Early on, they occasionally find that they cannot understand what the other does. Mind you, those are just small matters, yet sometimes they cause frustration. But said frustration is not important. The stable relationship endures.

The goodwill of both parties makes the more and more frequent signs of mutual lack of understanding seem a minor inconvenience. Shared tasks have priorities before the personal feeling. Yet as time goes by, more and more conflicts arise. Once, they actually separate, but later the re-unite.

They are both part of a team with a complex task. Their positions make them responsible for a lot. They subjugate their behaviour under the common good. Morals make it mandatory for them not to show internal problems. But all those attempts are useless. As the years pass, the distance between them grows. It is a slow but continuing process. They hardly notice it themselves, neither does their environment.

Many years pass in this way, the speed with which the distance grows increases slowly. Then a solution seems to offer itself. A long part of the shared path lies behind them, the natural end of their cooperation is not far. Only a few more years are left for them to go together, then they will have managed it. Now all they need is a little stamina. Yet it turns out that this is nowhere near as easy as it sounds.

The one criticizes the decisions made by the other. First softly, than louder. The measures taken by one of them are counter-acted .by the other. Whenever they are a success, they are not goal-oriented. Wherever they fail, this is considered a proof of the path being wrong.

All their past achievements are questioned, the mutual effort is considered sub-optimal. Weaknesses and failure are often a topic of discussions. Simultaneously, the risks are pointed out and a bleak image of the future is drawn. He tries to prevent those danger scenarios from becoming reality.

The other party starts suffering under the situation. More and more often, he gets angry. He starts taking offense with the behaviour of the other. There are more and more decisions that he does not understand. Yet he does not know how to change this development. Besides, he is not sure if his perception is, perhaps, wrong. Slowly, he starts to get really worried about the future. The situation escalates, it can no longer be controlled. The resulting vortex takes quite a few companions with it.

And then what had to happen happens. There is a huge explosion. To be sure, it solves the problem – but much is destroyed and initially, all you get are losers.

RMD
(Translated by EG)

P.S.
The photo is of the “Janus coin“.
Licenced under common property through Wikimedia Commons