We reckon there aren't many people who actually enjoy the act of arguing.
But it is inevitably going to happen from time to time when it comes to people who care for one another, in whatever context it may be.
Indeed, we are always a little suspicious of people who pronounce proudly that "they never argue"!
Because, after all, an "argument" needn't involve shouting and screaming, but merely a disagreement that results in dialogue that can be passionate simply due to the the care connection between the participants.
However, constructive and sometimes even therapeutic arguments can occasionally spiral into irrationality as a result of the passion at play, whereby comments start being made that are unnecessarily hurtful or irrelevant.
One example of this might be, for example, where people are starting to bring into the discourse issues from the distant past which are irrelevant to the present, even if they do require separate attention in their own right at a separate point.
This can be very stressful for those involved.
It also detracts from the preferred end objective of any argument which has to be compromise between two or more competing opinions alongside a roadmap for positive action to address concerns and avoid a repeat.
We have a useful tool that we deploy whenever an argument becomes irrational because it starts assuming a direction away from the essence of what needs immediately addressed or the volume starts to increase!
It simply involves taking a break or "time out" from the discussion in these circumstances.
This might involve saying nothing for a bit; focusing on a different activity or household chore; moving into different rooms; or taking a stroll in the garden.
The "time out" can be as long or short as desired.
We find that even 30 seconds to a minute helps restore calmness and perspective to enable pivotal issues to be picked back up without peripheral emotional baggage clouding them from resolution.
For further posts relevant to the above, please see our range of posts entitled:-
""Sorry (needn't!) be the Hardest Word""
"Balancing "time travel" to StressBust™ - Our "15/60/25 Rule""
"Modes of Questioning to Stressbust™ for Loved Ones"
"The Mirror Diffuser Strategy for Stressbusting™"
"There is nothing to be gained from a "Mexican Stand Off""
"Break Time Quickie - Adopt the French approach of "Laissez Faire" to StressBust™"
We hope you find these tips useful in arguments that naturally happen from time to time and that they help those arguments become the positive and progressive tool they ought to be.
And as always, we warmly welcome users own experiences and management techniques 👍
BIGLove
LouLoU™&