Thank your triggers

Someone says something, or a situation arises, and it sends us into a heightened emotional state — anger, sadness, envy. Anything but inner calm. Triggers often feel like something that could be fixed or avoided by changing something outside of our control: the situation, the other person, the setting. It’s a normal reaction to something that feels provoking. 

But what if we observed it with curiosity, as if we stepped out and looked from a third-person perspective? Would it look or feel the same? What if the comments were said in a language we didn’t understand — would we have reacted in the same way?

In fact, most situations are generally neutral. If an insult were nonsensical, or clearly false, it would trigger no reaction at all. It’s the meaning we give that creates the reaction. You can only squeeze orange juice from an orange — part of us, consciously or subconsciously, believes those words to be true in some way, and that’s what hurts.

The reaction comes from within. It hits a chord. An old wound. Like pressing on a bruise.

Our triggers are asking for our attention. They are cues, hints, guiding us toward what is still raw or unhealed — often seeded in childhood. They invite light into the shadows so healing can happen.

Perhaps we can meet them with a gentler perspective. Not trying to control them like wild, untamed animals, but offering a loving nudge toward a more peaceful self.

They are gifts in disguise.

Welcome them with loving kindness.