A business can generate enough money to impress outsiders while leaving its owner financially exposed. Revenue creates an image of success, but rent, salaries, supplier payments, taxes, and unpaid invoices determine how much of that success actually belongs to the business. The difference between looking profitable and having money available to survive is where many businesses get into trouble.

A relationship can survive disagreement more easily than it can survive the feeling that one person is always carrying it. When the responsibility for reaching out, making plans, resolving tension, and keeping the connection alive falls on the same person, affection can gradually turn into exhaustion. The relationship may still exist, but the experience of being in it has changed.