No, I’m not talking about a furry four-legged mammal though you may benefit from one of those as well (personally I’ve had dogs most of my life and they have been both a great comfort and terrific companions.)
The PET I’m talking about is a Personal Emotional Trainer; a person who helps us grow emotionally, expands our relational horizons. Personal Emotional Trainers come in at least two varieties. First, is the moving toward value; the positive friend serves as a social mirror, showing and telling us how the world sees us, whose astute feedback and helpful insights awaken our awareness and speed the evolution of our consciousness.
The second variety of Personal Emotional Trainer is less pleasant but no less valuable: the irritating person who repeatedly pushes our hot buttons, the situations which activate our negative emotional triggers. The learning key here lies in utilizing the incredible power of Re-Framing; choosing to see the situation differently, seeking to see stepping-stones instead of stumbling blocks. When you see your ex with another do you feel pain? Or do you pat yourself on the back for having the strength and courage to leave a relationship that wasn’t right for you, for having developed a secure self-concept that supported you in knowing there was better out there, and you could and would find it?
Closing Quotes:
“From now on, I want you to practice reframing other people’s negativity as a reminder of how not to be.” – T. Harv Eker
“The people who trigger us to feel negative emotion are messengers. They are messengers for the unhealed parts of our being.” – Teal Swan
“If a problem can’t be solved within the frame it was conceived, the solution lies in reframing the problem.” – Brian McGreevy, Hemlock Grove
As always, I share what I most want and need to learn. – Nathan S. Collier