On Thursday July 7th, Don gave us his most recent presentation entitled “ Knowing Yourself “

Don began by asking us Who are you? What makes us who we are ? He advised that we all have triggers, what are yours? Volunteers from around the room offered their triggers, mine happens to be fireworks. First thing that came to mind. Others mentioned loud voices, and people yelling. We all have different triggers. Don went on to share how music has been and still is a huge force in his life. He said music allows him to express his inner voice. 

Don shared that 31 years ago he was at rock bottom. He had recently lost his treasured business he had built with trusted friends. However one of those trusted friends helped to bring the business down. This was a shock and a very tough time in Don’s life.  He shared lately that he feels like a dark hand is trying to reach him, grab him, and drag him back to his past. 

So must of us are familiar with our bad triggers.  But are all triggers bad? 

How do we determine what our good triggers are? Don went around asking the room what their positive triggers were.  My positive trigger is chocolate brownies, one person mentioned a certain beach in Florida, another mentioned the smell of fresh baked bread. 

Don suggested to come up with your own playlist of your favorite songs, and use this playlist as a positive trigger. This in turn will bring out positive feelings. 

Have a positive playlist ready for those difficult low moments. Sometimes, somehow just derailing our negative thoughts can help make a big difference! Knowing yourself, and how you react to certain triggers is an important item to have in your tool box. 

With that, Don actually gave us a homework assignment from this presentation, which I am ready to try. He advised us to write down 4 or 5 items you have with you all the time, that are positive triggers in your life.  I plan on trying this! Can’t wait to give it a try!