Loizos G. Loizou, Head of Cyprus International Action Plan for Children with Cancer at ELPIDA Foundation for Children with Cancer, shared on LinkedIn:
“My friends.
Our peace of mind: How to protect it in difficult conversations?
The problem.
We have all been in intense, charged discussions, especially in the family environment, where we ‘relax our defenses’.
Often, these conversations turn into never-ending, damaging arguments that mentally and emotionally drain everyone involved.
The Solution: Separation of ‘facts’ and ‘critical characterizations’.
Each discussion consists of two completely different elements:
- The facts:
It is the objective, real data. What happened and can be confirmed. - Critical characterizations:
They are the subjective interpretations, assessments, characterizations and emotions that we or others add to the facts.
When we train our minds to recognize the difference while we speak, we immediately gain control of the situation.
The benefits
- Emotional Control:
We do not get carried away by provocative characterizations or subjective opinions. - Avoiding Barren Friction:
We stop fighting over “characterizations” and focus only on the real data. - Mental Protection:
We protect ourselves and our energy from meaningless and toxic confrontations.
Practical in every life
The next time a conversation starts to ‘light up’:
- We take a pause:
We ask ourselves: “Is what has just been heard a fact or is it a critical characterization?” - We stick to the facts:
We respond only to objective data and let critical characterizations pass by without feeding them.
The message
We can’t always control what others will tell us. But we can be trained on how to process it.
Separating facts from critical characterizations is a powerful shield for our mental health and relationships.”
You can also read:
From the Marathon 2024 to Olympus 2026: ELPIDA Climbs for Children with Cancer Around the World
