I've noticed that "life" likes to test me when I've been triggered by something. 

By "triggered" I mean a situation that upsets me.

Here's how it usually plays out:

1. The triggering situation happens.

2. I instantly feel negative emotions - frustration, anger, betrayal, abandonment, hurt.  The feelings that say, "hey, this doesn't feel right." 

3. I react. (Think fight, flight, or freeze).

4. The feelings eventually subside. The tears stop, the rage calms.

5. Time passes. 

6. I try to find a new way to manage the situation that triggered me.

Within this time, a new perspective can be found, if you’re open to it.

Maybe a friend says something helpful, I receive a heartfelt apology, or set a new boundary for this situation.

But here's the tricky part - life will test you to see if you can continue this new way and not go back to feeling so triggered.  

In order to test this, you may experience the same situation that triggered you, or something similar.

Almost as if life says:

Can you handle it this time?

So, how do you handle it? Do you go back to being triggered? Or do you try something new?

What do you do when you find yourself being triggered?  

Share your experience in the comments below.