I’m feeling conflicted about this

“I’m doing a cleanse”“
I’ll have a green juice”
Kale!

A few years ago, this was the way we were taking care of ourselves. I was on the bandwagon too, grabbing a $12 green juice on my way to work each morning.

After a year or so of sauteeing kale and cleaning out my juicer, I thought to myself if I hear the words “30-day cleanse” one more time I’m going to scream.

I’m starting to feel that way about the word “trigger”.

These days everyone seems to be triggered by something, and for good reason, we’ve had a couple of hellish years.

I’m so glad we’re open and honest about how we’re feeling, especially in the workplace. I used to keep the fact I saw a therapist and took medication to keep my anxiety at bay a big secret; especially at work.

Today, we tell our co-workers we have a meeting conflict because we have a therapist appointment and we share the medication we take like we’re sharing cookie recipes. This is great.

Keeping the state of our mental health a secret only makes us feel more isolated.A decade ago we were cleansing our bodies, today we’re cleansing our minds. We are aware of our mental state, unpacking past trauma, and finally healing ourselves.

With so much focus on our thoughts we know what sets us off, our triggers if you will, and here is where I become conflicted.

Unraveling our minds at this level gives us a great opportunity to do the deep work, set boundaries, take care of ourselves, and change the course of our lives.

Lord knows Gen X Women need this; we’ve been stuffing things down for decades.

On the other hand, let’s not let the word trigger become the new kale. We need to use the awareness of our triggers to protect ourselves, heal and grow and not become victims of what we know sets us off.

In this episode of Modern Gen X Woman, Jackie and I talk about triggers, and how we can release their hold on us, and we share our own personal triggers too. Take a listen here.