Relying on someone or depending on someone. Are they the same?

A: No, they are not the same. To rely on someone is to hope that the person will do what is good for us.

Q: So, it's not the best for us?

A: By leaning on someone else, you surrender the control of your balance to someone else. Similar to the physical world, you lose your balance. People we depend on are like a railing we hold onto on the stairs. Meanwhile, people we rely on are like a chair that can always be moved away.

Q: In life, is it not advisable to lean too much on people?

A: No, because they say that with people we can depend on, we don't need to rely on them. But with people we rely on, they are not dependable. You don't need to lean on a dependable person.

Q: How can a person distinguish whether they have leaned on/relied or depended on someone?

A: When you feel that you can't replace that person with someone else, then you know you have leaned/relied on them. If the person is replaceable, then they can be dependable. Sometimes it seems like there's only one option, but that's not the case.

Q: What about when a person tells a person that they are honest, reliable, hardworking, etc.? Or when a person claims to be a good person? What does that mean?

A: They say it means that's how they see themselves. But it depends on whether others agree with that perception.

They say that when we see people through dependability, we see that everyone is replaceable. Not in terms of character. Each person is different. But in terms of characteristics, both in personal and business cases. Dependable people in personal situations have more general characteristics, such as appearance, humor, ambitions, way of thinking, and so on.

Many people can have the same characteristics without being the same person. It's similar in the business world. For example: similar goals to ours, hardworking, punctual, intelligent, and so on. When it comes to relying, it's not so much about specific characteristics but more about the needs of that person.

They say that relying on a particular person is dangerous because we consciously choose to overlook certain flaws of that person concerning us. Because we are aware that our balance depends on that person at that moment or period.

Q: Does this give rise to the saying "Don't put all your eggs in one basket"?

A: In terms of business, this doesn't apply, as our basket is only a specific project into which we put all our eggs. In the case of people and relationships, if we lean on them, we put all our eggs in their basket. But with dependable people, we can put only one egg in multiple baskets.

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