200 See Yourself as a System
experiences can evoke something in your past or unrelated issues in
your current life, and then completely dominate the present moment.
To characterize the power these situations have over you, we switch
metaphors to discuss “triggers.”
Know Your Triggers
Being triggered is a common experience. How often has someone
“pushed your buttons” or “hit a nerve”? A brief comment by a coworker,
an action from your spouse, just the right small stimulus can set you off
and make you crazy, or at least momentarily out of control. Your defense
mechanisms kick in, generated by fear and fueled with adrenaline. Your
bright, strategic, graceful, attentive self is no longer there, temporarily
eclipsed by your more primal, defensive self.
Worse, ...