The other side of the coin

Often misunderstandings are due to the limited perspectives of uneducated or impatient people. They are in a hurry to find solutions or to criticize each other without taking time and interest to understand the whole picture and to see both sides of the coin. This is true for all relationships. Friendships, marriages, work relationships, communities and even political perspectives in one country. With limited understanding mistakes are made, people are misunderstood and whole nations fall apart.

Many years back I was in a one coin-sided relationship. The level of misunderstanding with my partner was like entering a country without knowing the language. He was a talented musician and engineer. I was a talented musician and Geography, Religion and Language teacher. I spoke the language of emotion and abstract ideas. He spoke the language of numbers and concrete actions. We could have been a match made in heaven by bringing two worlds together. However we could not see the other side of the coin and that broke us apart. At first we had a lot in common but after we realized that the other person was the opposite of us finding a bridge between us was close to impossible. I spent many hours thinking about the crazy situation because to me communication is everything and finding solutions for misunderstandings is a way of life. So the breakup was the worst experience I ever had. We hurt each other instead of loving and supporting each other and all because of not seeing the other side of the coin.

I learned a huge lesson in life from the breakup and that is that we either put 100% into understanding the other side of a story and if we can’t we need to find a translator that can understand our thinking and then to find solutions together or to leave and live a new life.

This counts for politics too.  I grew up in a beautiful country. It was a new-world country in Africa. It was very well organized with infrastructure, dams for water and the economy higher than the economies in Europe.  Life was simple and people listened to evening devotions and morning devotions over the radio. They believed in the good values in life. 

The government had a vision of giving each culture a place where they could live together in communities of peace and harmony. Where they could nurture their culture and language and where their children could keep it alive. However not all people found work in these parts of the countries and had to go out to work as migrant workers in the cities and mines. The families were left behind and they would visit them during holidays. Some could take their families along  to work on farms and to live there too. The leaders of these countries were respected by their cultural communities as ever before and were their Kings. 

The citizens of these countries followed the traditional rules and kept cattle and lived in huts and kraals. They followed the rules of the kingdom and also taught these to their children, who took great pride in learning them. 

It could have been a brave new prosperous and accommodating world if all could have understood the concept of cultural respect and lifestyle.

However, the idea was misinterpreted and the country fell apart. It turned out to become a battle between cultures. No respect and one group ruling all the others. Instead of living in individual communities next to each other, it all became a bartle fiend. English became the main language and leaders that knew nothing about infrastructure became presidents due to numbers and popularity not due to knowledge and skill. 

Too many misunderstandings and misinterpretations made communities and families fall apart. Schools and education needed attention but the leaders had no idea what to do. The infrastructure fell apart. Corruption and poverty grew The economy slipped down to the lowest in the world. 

Something has to be done to bring the people of this beautiful country together in a meaningful way and to build a future for their children.

Where to start is the question. Translators to clear up the misunderstanding and planning a new vision together with practical steps to rebuild the country can be a start. 

Where there is a will there is a way to include the other side of the coin too. 

Let’s pray for eyes to open to see te other side too.