Signposts

Signposts. What’s their purpose?

To direct us?

To guide us?

To help us?

All of the above.

Now, I’ve always been led by emotion, which is great if it’s a good one and not so great if it’s a not so good one. I’ve trusted my emotions and been led by them. But I was listening to a podcast the other day where they were called signposts, an indication to a trigger. Their purpose is to highlight the trigger for us to then work out why that event triggered that emotion. Apparently it’s possible to not trust emotion (I know this really but I struggle to fight it).

Triggers. We all have them. They’re things we can’t control, they’re external events. It goes back to the principle that all we can control is how we take it (perception). So, I guess there’s a process of working backwards and then forwards. Trigger leads to the emotion, the emotion links to a past event, the present isn’t the past so we have to reprogram ourselves and look at the event differently. I guess that’s what CBT (Cognitive Behavioural Therapy) is, challenging an unhelpfel belief/perception and looking at alternatives.

So, I guess the lesson from hearing that emotions are signposts is to use that to question why that emotion was triggered and then make a choice on how I respond. Take control of the emotion rather than let the emotion control me.