TRIGGERED: How To Find Your Calm When Your Buttons Get Pushed
We all get triggered from time to time, but how can we get ourselves back together, learn the lessons and let it go? Read on…
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WE’VE all been there. Someone — or something — really punches us in the feels and, before we know it, we’re spiralling into an emotional black hole.
Being ‘triggered’ can bring about all kinds of unhelpful thoughts and feelings; we’re not good enough, we did something wrong, everybody hates us — all the usual headlines we might file under ‘Imposter Syndrome’ — as well as rising anger, frustration, despair and tears.
It’s not pleasant… and that is, perhaps, one of the biggest understatements I’ve ever written!
Something I’ve learned is that blaming the ‘trigger’ doesn’t work. Depending on our personal circumstances and lived experiences, all kinds of seemingly innocuous happenings can tip us over the edge and it’s nigh on impossible to eliminate them all, OR label them as the cause of our discomfort.
I don’t subscribe to the idea that we should stick warning labels on everything, avoid talking about sensitive topics or coat ourselves in bubble wrap. I don’t believe in expecting others to sensor themselves, just in case.
The imbalance lies INSIDE of us and so, like so many issues that revolve around our mindset and emotional state, the solution is an inside job.
The imbalance lies INSIDE of us and so, like so many issues that revolve around our mindset and emotional state, the solution is an inside job.
Value sets
The kind of triggers I’m going to be addressing today are those revolving around value sets; I’m not about to touch issues such as deep trauma or complex PTSD — they’re for someone else with a far more specific skillset.
What do value sets have to do with triggers? For many, many people, absolutely everything!
Let me walk you through a ‘trigger’ scenario I found myself in this week, and show you how I managed to break my state, learn from it, let it go…
