Facing the Trigger

In celebration of the new year and being tested negative from COVID, my family and I wanted to try something new.

We all wanted to go out, explore, and discover more about ourselves through a novel experience.

But what activity can inject novelty amidst a global pandemic?

With the lack of options, my family encouraged that I try something I would never use in my life: gun shooting.

Because I felt their excitement of wanting to engage in a potentially fun experience, I went along with them.

The shooting range was supposed to be an initial powerful and exhilarating experience, but it was not what I thought…

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Pull the trigger.

Boom.

The intense, forceful, sounds of the gunshot’s energy powerfully directed straight towards my eardrums.

I stay in the range despite the sharpness of noise; I keep myself in the metal box of expectations.

Not marching to the beat of my drum spurred a ruptured eardrum.

I was triggered by the trigger.

Boom. In comes the epiphany.

This is what happens when I face the trigger.

Little do I know, my first two shots almost hit the middle.

I am able to hit bull’s eye in the midst of my pain.

This pain directs me to the core of my roots...

I am a fragile shooter.

Sensitive, but strong.

I can have a loving heart, with a powerful mind.

I can feel pain for others, and feel for myself, while effectively focusing on my target towards personal development, success, and happiness.

But I am still learning how to bloom in a world where toughness equates to strength.

Am I not powerful enough to overcome something as simple as a shooting range?

Although my pain threshold is much lower than the standards,

I can exceptionally connect to others and to love more deeply.

Despite my hardship, connecting back to my roots revealed my pain’s higher purpose: to become more grounded in the heightened senses I was born with. I want to use my empathic abilities to help people.

Fickle emotional states test my toughness, but never my strength.

Boom.

With higher empathy, comes amplified healing.

You can turn adversity into triumph. Protect your energy — shoot to heal, not to hurt.

Heal thyself to heal the world.