Our family cottage on Lake Canandaigua was built over 100 years ago and the foundation has settled unevenly over the decades. Hence, the wood floors are not entirely level. There’s one part of the floor where the planks form a slight bump.

It’s barely visible to the eye.

You’d have to get down on to floor level and look really hard to find it. But, when I’m walking along, without noticing, it can still trip me up. One summer, it happened almost everyday.

I have thoughts like that bump in the hardwood.

I can be cruising along in my day. Doing my work. Feeling good. When something happens. It can be comment from a colleague. An email from a client. A certain look or tone of voice from someone I care about.

And I trip.

It doesn’t have to be a big event.

Because it’s not the external event that trips me up. The event, person, voice tone, or comment happens. It’s real. But, that’s not what trips me up.

I trip over my reaction.

It’s the internal, mental and emotional reactions that cause me to stumble and lose my balance. And the biggest triggers, for me, are other people.

Some people are bumpier (for me) than others.

These are my trigger people.

We all have them. They’re the folks that seem to reliably trigger those bumpy thoughts. They can just show up, be themselves, and thoughts of doubt, fear, rage, anxiety, shame, overwhelm . . . get triggered.

So, what can you do about these trigger people?

You can’t avoid them, really. Because, even if you stop seeing a specific trigger person – another one will surely pop up to take their place.

There will always be another trigger person as long as you haven’t turned around and smoothed out those bumpy thoughts.

It’s the inner bumpiness that makes trigger people possible. By smoothing, softening the inner bumpiness – you become less trigger-able. Less reactive.

And here’s the secret – you don’t have to wait for the trigger people to do their thing in order for you to smooth your reactivity.

You can pull the trigger all by yourself.

And you can change your reaction – by yourself.

You can do this in your own mind. Because from the standpoint of your neuro-psychology (your body/mind) there is no appreciable difference between the thought of the trigger person and the external trigger person him or herself.

You can change your inner response – and side step that bump.

Then, when they pull the trigger – you no longer react. Nice.

Through a simple inner practice of meditation (which I will teach you on the link below) – you can learn how to stay balanced, clear, and resourceful when interacting with a trigger person.

Are you ready to stop tripping over those internal bumps?

Here’s the link to a short audio program that covers:

• Where the trigger people in your life really live
• How to shift your inner reaction
• A guided meditation for re-patterning your neuro-psychology.

Trigger Person Meditation

Let me know how this works for you. (And what other ways you’ve found that help smooth those inner bumps.)

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