ARE YOU GIVING AWAY YOUR POWER? TO A BUTTON PUSHER???
I know who I am
therefore I always act like myself
except in the instances
when someone presses my buttons
and then I act like
someone else
because I REACT in ways
that don’t feel like me
but it only happens
because they piss me off!
I’ve been thinking a lot about personal power lately and I have witnessed so many instances of people who willingly hand their power to another person and don’t even realize they have done it!
The story goes something like this…
An argument begins. Instead of trying to talk things out and hear the other person’s point of view, both parties get stuck defending their own position.
Party one says something that is a trigger to party two…they intentionally press a button to get a reaction.
Without thinking or skipping a beat, party two takes the bait and reacts in a way that does not feel authentic to their soul. It doesn’t feel good because it is not how they wanted to respond; in fact, it is contrary to who they believe they are at their core.
Relationships are full of good and bad. We tend to adopt patterns that become habitual to the point that we don’t even realize that the same things continue to happen over and over.
The people with the buttons are usually the more emotional of the two and they don’t recognize when they have been pressed until it is too late. At that point they react emotionally and – BAM! – they immediately lose their power.
The way we frame these interactions has the ability to take us deeper into the dysfunction. If you place the blame on the button pusher, which is the easier thing to do, then you never realize that you have given your power to them not only in the instant that you react, but you give it to them over and over because you never take responsibility for your part.
JUST BECAUSE THEY
PUSH A BUTTON
DOES NOT MEAN
YOU HAVE TO REACT!
You take back your power the minute you realize that you HAVE POWER! Your power resides in taking responsibility for your part and to never REACT when they want you to.
Take a moment…breathe…and formulate a response – if one is even necessary.
The moment you decide to respond instead of react, the following things happen.
1). You immediately feel a surge of personal power
2). They immediately feel it too – and that deflates their power. They take a moment to gather themselves and to figure out what happened.
If you can sustain this type of communication with a button pusher, the third thing that will happen is they will completely STOP TRYING TO PUSH YOUR BUTTONS because they no longer get the reaction they used to get – they lose their power over you!
WHEN YOU
TAKE BACK YOUR POWER
THE BUTTON PUSHER
MOVES ON TO
SOMEONE ELSE
Take responsibility for your life and your relationships. The next time someone pushes your buttons, take that moment to respond instead of react and see how good it feels to take back your personal power!
Sending all kinds of good energy, love, and light to you all.
Blessitude!
Lorrie <3
02/20/2022
That sounds good, Lorrie. We all have our own limitless supplies of power; we just need to use it better!
Love it, Tom! Yes…we are SO POWERFUL!! Once we recognize it the possibilities are ENDLESS 😉 Hope all is well in your limitless world!
It is, thank you. Being a bit battered by the winds, but apart from that, things are OK. Hope things are good in your world.
Happy to hear! All systems good 😉 Trying to feel my power! Have a great week.
Thank you… and you too! 🙂
I love the way you put this~ it makes it so clear and simple (even though in the moment of heightened emotions it’s never clear and simple) but ability to reflect honestly on oneself and one’s accountability, and then make changes to more closely align with our ideal versions of ourselves~ that is priceless indeed. Thank you for the reminder that are more powerful than we realize.
Hi Kristen!! I’m reminding myself too! And it is a great reminder because there is so much that we just do out of habit…without giving much thought to it at all. I think awareness in each moment is perhaps the most powerful thing we can do. From there noticing things becomes much easier and once we have understanding we can do something about it.
Hope you are well, my friend! Sending all good thoughts and feelings <3
Good tips and insights Lorrie. I think the biggest key is to pause before responding.
Hi Brad 😊 I couldn’t agree more…that little pause where you take a breath and THINK will make all the difference in the world.
Hope things are going well in your world 😊
I’m ok, still looking for a place to live and deciding what is next. I’m tempted to go wandering in my car, staying with friends and bloggers! 🙂
ROAD TRIP!! Haha…I am certain that you will end up exactly where you are meant to be, Brad. My son is going through a similar experience and an apartment just fell through…so I have to believe that it wasn’t meant to be because something better is on the horizon! Sending all good energy!
What a remarkable and insightful post, Lorrie! I believe in self-advocacy and another meaning for push is “to advocate.” By not responding to having a button pushed, we are advocating back and taking care of ourselves!
Triggers are definitely landmines from my former life, and navigating them takes mindfulness and a great deal of self-love. Thank you for your encouragement and beautiful reminders in this area.
Aww…love how you add to my thoughts, Judy 😊 It is hard to navigate for sure. But I think just as with anything…the more we practice the better we get! It’s just a shame that we HAVE to work on these kinds of things. I’ve done a really good job trying eliminate the toxic relationships in my life but every now and then one sneaks back in 😉 Here’s to all the self-love we can muster and to always giving it our best 💜
It’s all about knowing ourselves and being aware of our triggers. … and then letting it all go. Defending our position only feeds the ego, but diminishes relationships … with others and ourselves.
Couldn’t have said it better, Val! The letting go part is a recurring theme…yes? It’s amazing how when the shift happens…when you no longer need to
defend…how much peace you feel😊
Hope all is well in your world…hope Spring comes soon for you 🙏
I enjoyed your hopeful tone here! You’ve reminded me that when we are vulnerable, perhaps hungry, angry, lonely, or tired, we are more likely to react to button pushing. But if I take a deep breath or two, I’ll also remember your wise words of encouragement in this empowering post!
Hi JoAnna 😊 Oh yes!!! All of those states definitely make it harder to be in the moment and to pause and respond! It feels like the longer I am on this journey…the better I get. But I’m not there 100% if I’m hungry 😉😉
Hope all is well with you and yours. I really appreciate you reading and commenting…thank you 🙏
We are getting better with practice. 🙂 Peace and Blessings to you Lorrie. <3
😊💜🙏