The story of the 2 Firemen and how it applies to relationships

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Quiz:   There were two firemen who went to the forest to put off a small fire. After putting off the fire, they headed to the stream to wash their faces. One fireman was smeared with black and the other fireman's face was clean. Who would wash his face?

The one with the dirty face - that's what I instantly thought.

But here's another way to look at it as illustrated in the book "The Zahir" by Paulo Coelho.

The fireman with the dirty face will see his companion and think that his face is clean. In the same way, the fireman with the clean face would see his companion smeared with black and think that his face has dirt.

This analogy was used for relationships wherein when two people are together, there is a possibility that instead of them both being better (the weaker one influenced by the strength of the other), the reverse happens. The stronger one may see the weakness of the other, takes it as his/her own and eventually becomes like his/her partner.

Thought-altering analogy.  I never saw it this way - whether in the firemen story or relationships.  But now we know.  :)