When I am required to interact with someone who is unpleasant in any way, here are some tricks I use to get through it:

1) I add a bit of inner humor by assuming their hemorrhoids are acting up. We aren’t as likely to get triggered if we’re enjoying a private joke.

2) I imagine a bubble of light around me that nothing unpleasant can penetrate. I always think of Maxwell Smart and his Cone of Silence, which again, adds that element of humor.

3) I remember that their negative behavior is the outer expression of inner pain and a cry for love.

4) #3 then allows me to imagine my heart energy extending out to their heart. They don’t know it’s going on, but I’m always amazed that it does sometimes shift their behavior. And when it doesn’t if shifts my energy to a calmer place.

5) If I do get triggered, I assume it’s A.F.L.E. and after I’ve settled down, get to work to find out what I’m supposed to learn about myself so I don’t get triggered next time.

6) Take conscious, deep breathes. It is impossible to hold stress in our bodies or even stay upset, in the moment we are taking a deep breath. We very well might go right back to being stressed or upset, but a moment of reprieve is a moment worth savoring.

From my heart to yours,