Most of us spend our lives avoiding situations that set us off, and seeking out situations that turn us on. We're in a constant fight with life, trying to make the people, places, and things around us behave in such a way that doesn't disrupt us too much. If that's not enough, we're oblivious to the fact that we're even doing it.
I'm aware that I write about this topic quite often, but that's because it's absolutely fundamental to a life of unconditional well-being.
When we only work at the level of our triggers, we're forever entrapped by our problems. That's why no matter what we get, where we live, or whom we spend our lives with, we always have the same underlying issues. The only true way to liberation is by addressing our problems at their root.
But to do that requires an understanding of why we have triggers in the first place. That's a topic I've covered in several other posts, including the one titled: What No One Ever Taught Us.
The point of this post is to remind you - or perhaps to awaken you - to the truth about your triggers.
The only reason life is hard
The only reason you feel like life is a struggle is because you're constantly at war with reality, trying to keep your triggers from being set off.
Let's say as a child, you had an uncomfortable experience with a dog that you couldn't handle. Now 30 years later, wherever you go, whatever you do, you're still making sure dogs aren't part of the equation. This is hard work, especially since we're up against billions of years of creation. No wonder why life is hard!
The truth is, we do this with thousands of things, not just dogs. We resist and cling so much, that we don't just let reality flow through us. That's why we have so much trouble with daily frustrations, and the larger challenges of life. Our psyches get in between us and reality.
The great irony about all of this is that if we just address the source, the triggers will no longer be there. If you just learned to work at the root and address that experience with the dog by relaxing and releasing that energy rather than suppressing or expressing it, you'd forever be free of dog-related trauma.
Of course it's difficult, but so is fighting with life. So is being a teenager and feeling the need to kill yourself because you don't feel like you belong in this world. So is waking up at 50 years old realizing that what you've been doing all your life hasn't gotten you anything.
Addressing the source is difficult, but how can you tell me all of the above are not far, far more difficult? How can you opt to struggle your whole life, when you could devote your life to fixing the source so that your triggers become less and less over time? Let's wake up. Let's look into why we're not feeling okay. Let's go to work on ourselves. Let's do a little less wishing and hoping, and a little more learning about ourselves.
What our triggers can teach us
One valuable thing about triggers is that they can lead you to your source. All you have to do is pay attention.
Start noticing where you get disturbed throughout your day. What bothers you? Who bothers you? Is it the weather? Is it other drivers? Is it your partner? Your boss? Your own body? As painful as they might be, they're all clear indications of where you need to let go.
When these disturbances come up, learn to relax and let them pass through. There's nothing to do with them, nothing to say, nowhere to go. When you have urges to do something, learn to pause and let them pass. Understand that they're the result of the habits you've created in dealing with your triggers. You can still go about your life, just less and less based on your personal triggers.
Be weary of other teachings
As you learn techniques on how to work on yourself, be weary of teachings that tell you how to change the people and things around you. Realize that the only reason you'd want to change other people or things is because you want to feel better. Instead, I recommend finding teachings that help you feel better regardless of what's going on around you. Most Yogic, Zen, Buddhist, or practical spiritual teachings address this.
Many new-age teachings are about finding what's going to trigger those feelings, whereas the Yogic, Zen, Buddhist teachings are about helping you realize that you already have those feelings within. Stay away from any mumbo-jumbo that talks about attracting the things you want in your life. Again, the only reason you want to attract things is because you want to feel love, joy, and inner peace.
If you really want them unconditionally, then stop depending on the outside world to feel them. Instead, work within yourself to get to a point where you're able to feel them regardless of what's going on around you.
In the end, it's your choice
At the end of the day, you decide whether you want to remove the triggers or the source. All I know is, if you don’t remove the source, you’ll spend the rest of your life consciously or subconsciously struggling so that you avoid your triggers at all cost.
This means that nearly everything you do is motivated by your own personal triggers and not by the good of your soul. You don't want that. Nobody wants that. That’s not the highest way to live.
If you work at removing the source of your triggers, you can step into any moment with purity, and find peace in whatever you're doing, no matter what's happening around you.
Live with substance!
Gabe Orlowitz
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