Take Your Power Back By Mastering Your Triggers
Have you ever had a single thought, memory, or saw an image of something that derailed your whole day or even week? Or maybe someone is sharing an experience they had and now you can’t shake the feeling you have due to going through something similar? Well, I will be the first to admit that I have had some small thoughts that have triggered emotions such as anger, jealously, fear, worry, shame, guilt, and the list goes on! No matter what the thing is that triggers a negative emotion from you, it is important to identify your triggers and take the power it has over you back! We can’t always control the thoughts or moments that occur, but we can control how we react to them.
Identifying your triggers has many major benefits but there are three benefits that I believe could transform your mind and life!
Identifying your triggers protects your mental and emotional health. When you know and understand why your triggers occur you can put practices in place to help you navigate through those triggering moments without tearing yourself down and interrupting your life.
Becoming more aware of your triggers also helps to develop a stronger, more positive inner voice. Instead of that inner voice that gives into the triggering thoughts and goes down the rabbit hole of negative outcomes and living in the past, this new positive inner voice builds you up and pulls you out of the moment! Instead of leaving you to drown in your thoughts this inner voice grabs your hand and helps navigate you to safety during this uncomfortable moment.
Lastly, but most importantly, identifying your triggers helps to reclaim your power and take charge of your mindset, emotions, and life, which then allows you to make better decisions!
Now that you have a few examples of why it is beneficial for you to identify the triggers in your life, you are probably wondering, how do I even identify my triggers and know that something is triggering me? In my own experience with identifying my triggers and overcoming them, the below steps have helped me tremendously!
Pay attention to your mind and body. Our body responds to what is going on in our lives. When are still and attentive we become more aware of what is going on within ourselves. Pay attention to if you are feeling sad, anxious or if your heart is pounding or your palms are getting clammy and sweaty. What is your body trying to tell you?
Pause and Analyze. Take a moment and think about what just happened to make you feel this way and what is the reality of your life right now. Many times, our triggers are occurring because of a thought or memory from the past, but it doesn’t speak to the position of our current life. Taking a moment to pause and think about what is going on can help you stop your past hurts, trauma, or memories from tarnishing the gift of today and blinding you from the fact you overcame and progressed forward.
Own your feelings but do not let your feelings own you. Give yourself the space and grace to be human and feel your emotion. However, do not stay in that space too long. Acknowledge your feeling but do not let them overtake you!
TALK BACK TO YOURSELF! We have this chatterbox in our mind that loves to run its mouth so much. Talk out loud to yourself and put that voice in check. Spending more time talk ourselves versus listening to ourselves can help us make more positive decisions in our life.
In closing, we may not be able to control all of our emotions and thoughts, but we sure do have the power to control how we react to them. So, the next time a thought pops in your head and your heart starts pounding or you get sad and down, pause and take control of his uncomfortable moment!