Meryl's Shareable Parables
Fact and Fiction Separate Themselves from Each Other

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Fact sees Fiction with new eyes
Fact and Fiction were great friends. They were such great friends that they sometimes got lost in each other. Fact was the first to become aware that he needed to learn to separate himself from his dear friend.

It happened on a drive home after a lovely dinner out. Fiction pointed to a field with some scattered headstones. “That’s a pet cemetery,” Fiction noted. “Those rich people buy bigger tombstones for their pets than most people get.”

Fact was confused. The cemetery looked modest. It was not elaborate at all. So Fact asked Fiction to turn around and take them back to the cemetery so he could see the fancy tombstones Fiction described.

“It’s getting late,” Fiction objected. Fiction’s comment confused Fact more than ever. “It’s not even 6:30,” Fact countered.

“I have a pile of dishes to do and I need to call my friend Night Owl,” Fiction protested. “She’s on Eastern time – an hour ahead of us.”

Fact’s confusion thickened. They had eaten out, so there were no dishes. Fiction’s friend Night Owl would be up for several more hours. Fact experienced a cognitive dissonance between what he knew and what Fiction told him. Was Fact’s perception that inaccurate? Fact was lost in a sea of fiction.

Fact adjusts to Fiction
Fact had assumed that if Fiction’s words did not align with his perception, there must be something wrong with his perception. Now he started to wonder if the problem was not with his perception, but with Fiction’s description. So Fact took a factual look at Fiction’s communication style and observed that Fiction fudged facts. This was something Fact would never do, so it disappointed him to think that Fiction did. But Fact loved his friend and learned to adjust. Fact decided to make allowances for Fiction’s style so he could know the facts.

When Fiction says she’d be doing laundry all day, Fact now took that to mean she’d be doing laundry for a few hours. She might have some time for an outing.

When Fiction says she spent a million dollars fixing their vacation home, Fact now took that to mean she spent a few thousand. Fiction might still have money left over to take a trip with Fact.

When Fiction said she was starving to death, Fact now took that to mean she was hungry. Fact didn’t worry that his friend Fiction was about to die.

Fact learned to listen to Fiction with a different ear than he listened to other friends such as Accurate, Precise, and Specific. Meeting Fiction’s friends Drama, Poetic License, Embellish, and Fantasy gave Fact new insight into Fiction. Fact even experimented with the license that Fiction freely embraced.

Fact embraces Fiction
When Fiction said cleaning the fridge would be an absolute horror, Fact joked about filming a horror movie about it and about how such a movie would be so gruesome it would be banned from TV.

When Fiction said they spent an absolute fortune on dinner, Fact said, “There goes your kid’s inheritance.”

And when Fiction said she looked so bad that day she scared herself looking in the mirror, Fact quipped, “I can see the headlines now. Fiction dies from seeing self in mirror.”

Fact started to enjoy the game. Fiction was a teacher for him.

But Fact had a few things to teach Fiction, too.

Fiction’s fudging almost cost a life
While Fact learned to enjoy Fiction’s style, there were times when Fact needed to be able to separate himself from Fiction. And Fact taught Fiction that her frequent fact-fudging and inability to separate fact from fiction had dangerous consequences. It almost kept Fact from saving their friend Diminish’s life.

One day Fiction called Fact and said, “I spoke with our friend Diminish, and I’m frightened for her. I think she’s suicidal. Please go visit her.”

Fact called Diminish and asked her how she was. Diminish went on and on about how fine she was.

But Fact listened thinking – when Fiction speaks, I need to tone it down to get the facts. Could it be that when Diminish speaks, I need to amp it up to get the facts?

Fact went to see Diminish. Diminish was planning for suicide. Fact pulled her out of her depression with some solid facts about depression that gave Diminish hope.

Fact and Fiction learn to separate
When Fact saw Fiction again, he told Fiction about how he almost didn’t believe her warning. Fiction hadn’t considered that because she frequently fudged facts, people would doubt her when her facts contained no fudge.

So Fact and Fiction created a strategy to combine their tendencies. The question became, “Do the facts matter here?” This was a stretch for Fact because he used to believe that facts mattered every time. This was a shrink for Fiction, who felt constrained by facts. But Fact became more fun to be around, and Fiction’s credibility grew.

Fiction taught Fact that sometimes facts don’t matter. In turn, Fact taught Fiction that other times they matter very much. Sometimes there is no need to separate Fact from Fiction. Other times, it’s critical.

Fact gets the facts and becomes comfortable with Fiction
One evening, Fact drove back to the pet cemetery Fiction had pointed out so many months before. Fact wanted to see if it was as elaborate as Fiction had suggested. It wasn’t – but Fact felt no need to convince Fiction of that fact. Fact wanted to know because Fact loves facts. Fiction didn’t need to know, because Fiction loves fiction. As long as Fiction knew how to separate facts from fiction when they mattered, Fact was comfortable with Fiction’s fact-fudging. But he still loves facts.


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Meryl Runion and Speak Strong (SpeakStrong) provides Power Phrases (PowerPhrases) and other tools to help you improve communication skills at work and at home. You can read more about her at www.speakstrong.com.

Meryl is the author of six books on communication that have sold over a quarter million copies worldwide, including Speak Strong, PowerPhrases!, How to Use PowerPhrases, Perfect Phrases for Managers and Supervisors, and How to Say It: Performance Reviews. You can reach her at 719-684-2633, or by email:

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