Let Your Triggers Lead You Inward

Finding Freedom from Taking Things Personally

Triggers show up like emotional earthquakes – sometimes subtle, sometimes your whole body might vibrate. They shake something loose inside you and before you know it, you’re caught in the story and you are taking it very personally:
Why did they say that?
How could they do this to me?
What’s wrong with me?

This is what it feels like to take something personally.

And yet… this moment, this trigger, is not the problem. It’s an invitation. Not to take it personally and react. Not to defend or strike back. It’s never a good idea to react from a triggered place! But it is a good idea to go inward. Go inward and bring awareness to what has triggered you.

When we’re triggered, what’s really happening is this:
A part of us we haven’t fully seen, loved or accepted – is being activated. An old belief, a wound, a memory, a fear. And the ego, in its need to protect, reaches for the familiar story:
They hurt me. They don’t understand. They must not love me! I’m not safe.

But beneath that story is a deeper truth:
You are not a victim of that person’s beliefs or their wounds or suffering.
You are the observer. Stop and pause. Observe your own inner thoughts and words – observe your mind. Why is this important? Because you can choose to see this whole scenario differently.

The Work is Within

What if, instead of spiraling into reaction, you paused? What if you turned inward, became silent and gently asked:

• Why is this bothering me so much?
• What fear in me has been activated?
• What am I believing right now?
• What am I getting out of reacting?
• What story am I keeping alive – and am I willing to let it go?

This is a courageous practice: to stop seeking external resolution and instead, return to your own stillness. Not to fix yourself – but to see yourself clearly. To love yourself back into wholeness.

And silence is the medicine.

In stillness, the noise of the ego begins to quiet.
In silence, the truth will find it’s way to your heart.
You realize: It’s not about them. It’s never been about them. Once you realize this – the healing begins.

Let your triggers be your teachers.
Let self-love and your self-talk be your homework.

The Second Agreement: Don’t Take Anything Personally

Don Miguel Ruiz writes in “The 4 Agreements” that nothing others do is because of you. It’s a reflection of their own world – their wounds, fears and perceptions.

This was a game changer for me. It’s the agreement that cracked me open and showed me where the real work needed to be done. It invited me to stop expecting the world around me to change and to start going inward.

It’s a simple wisdom. But it’s not always easy to live.

Why? Because when someone touches a wound, you haven’t yet acknowledged, accepted or healed – you will take it personally. It is so easy to get pulled into the emotional gravity of the moment. The tendency is to make it about them (because it’s easier to blame, than to face or heal the trigger) but it will always point back to you – until you are willing to love yourself through it.

Love those parts of you that long to be seen, soothed and accepted.

Going inward was a very scary place for me to go. But I realized I needed to stop abandoning myself and instead love, accept, honor and respect myself. I needed to do this to all parts of myself, even (and especially) the toughest parts of myself to love.

The truth is, nothing anyone says or does (or doesn’t say or doesn’t do) is actually about you. It’s about them – their fears, their wounds, their insecurities, their beliefs. But even when you understand this intellectually, you can still get triggered. Why?

Because deep down, part of you believes what was said. If someone calls you careless and you already carry a belief that you mess things up or aren’t enough… boom. You’re triggered!!

You feel powerless to control the reaction …You are not powerless though. But when you take things personally – you forget that.

You slip into the story that someone “out there” has taken your peace. And you abandon the still, quiet place within where peace lives. This is where the deep healing resides.

This isn’t about blame – it’s about empowerment.
It’s about learning to take responsibility for your emotions by feeling them fully – without judgement and with compassion.
It’s about no longer giving your power away.
It’s about returning to the present moment to love, honor, respect and accept yourself.

The Practice: Silence Over Reaction

When the mind is loud and reactive, practice coming to silence. You will meet with resistance – do it anyway.

When you feel the familiar pull of hurt and defensiveness, drop in.

• Sit.
• Breathe.
• Let the discomfort rise.
• Let the stories surface.
• Don’t run.
• Don’t fix.
• Don’t numb.

Just be with yourself.

Let the silence hold you. Let it show you the false beliefs you’ve been carrying. Let it remind you that your worth, your peace and your power are not negotiable.

Because the more you practice stillness, the more you strengthen your capacity to witness your triggers without being consumed by them. You begin to see the trigger as a teacher, not a threat.

And that’s where freedom lives.

This Week’s Intention:

• Notice when you’re taking something personally.
• Remind yourself: “This has nothing to do with me. This is their wounds or belief system.”
• If you’re still activated, be willing to recognize the trigger.
• Sit with it.
• Listen inwardly. Let silence do what the mind cannot.
• Be willing to see it differently and love yourself back to wholeness.

You are not broken. You are human.
You are not a victim. You are powerful.
You are not your story. You are the awareness behind it.

Let your triggers take you inward.
Let silence bring you home.
Let your mind rest in the peace – let your mind heal.

You’ve got this. One breath, one moment, one shift at a time.

Namaste,
Leslie
📩 leslie@wellnessdefined.ca
📞 780-722-3442