Terri’s phone makes a sound when she saves a screenshot.
Click. Wrrr. Chink.
It makes another sound when she sends a text.
Waa-loop.
While for most people these sounds are just background noise in a world full of notifications, I notice them. In fact, my whole body hears them. Terri and I’ve talked about this strange phenomenon. She’s suggested I talk to my therapist about it.
The camera-click means she’s saving something, often to point out a typo or a poorly worded phrase in my blog post. When I hear waa-loop, I know a text is on its way. If it’s not for me, Terri has started saying, “It’s not for you.” Yet, I check my phone anyway.
My wife is one of my greatest editors and my biggest supporter. I genuinely appreciate her keen eye for detail and for words. Somewhere along the way, these little sounds her phone makes got connected in my mind and caused my body to react intensely and internally.
The sounds, albeit they are just sounds, trigger something. There is the uncomfortable feeling that I missed something.
The other day, I began reading a book about a doctor who prescribed cats to his patients. As I started reading, I experienced another trigger that surprised me. To be clear, I love cats. Terri and I have our own kindle of cats that we love and who love on us. All the various reading sites highly recommended the book.
But after a few pages, I noticed my body tense up. Before I knew it, my body was reacting to what my mind was fearing. The whole fight, flight, freeze, fawn mechanism kicked in. The story stirred up emotions that I hadn’t come prepared to experience. Somehow, the words on the page touched wounds and experiences buried beneath the surface. It was unnerving and impacted my whole day.
The odd thing about triggers is that they often make little sense to anyone else. Like suddenly being hypersensitive to the smell of popcorn or routine sounds. Triggers can occur when we visit certain places or hear a song from long ago. And apparently, when reading a book about cats.
When something ordinary becomes attached to grief, fear, trauma, embarrassment, or loss, the connection triggers a response.
For people like me, who are walking through grief, PTSD, anxiety, or other emotional struggles, these triggers often appear unexpectedly. What are you supposed to do? Walk around on guard all day? What are people supposed to do? Quit eating popcorn?
These disruptions and disturbances remind us that healing isn’t a straight line from bad to better. If only it were that easy.
I’ve also learned that triggers aren’t necessarily my enemies. They serve as signals revealing there is healing that’s still needed. Some memories, no matter how long forgotten, aren’t fully settled.
For me, they are a reminder that God is still at work in places I would rather avoid. But, here I am. There’s no way to the other side except through.
Thankfully, Scripture tells us that the Lord is “near to the brokenhearted and saves the crushed in spirit” (Psalm 34:18). God is not surprised by our triggers. He is not irritated by our sensitivities. He is present within them. That’s Grace and Mercy in action.
I have found that acknowledging a trigger is healthier than pretending it doesn’t exist. Denial won’t bring healing. Honest awareness opens the door for God to meet us where we are, not where we pretend to be.
So, when a phone makes a familiar sound, or when an unexpected memory surfaces from a book, I pay attention. Not to do so results in delays. No one enjoys being triggered, but those moments reveal areas where God is still writing His story of restoration. And there’s good in that. Some triggers are obvious. Some stay hidden until they’re not.
I think they are an invitation to bring our hurts before the One who knows them completely and loves us anyway.
Do you have any triggers?
Until my next post…
Be salty, stay lit.
Rainer Bantau —The Devotional Guy™
© 2026 Rainer Bantau | The Devotional Guy™ | All Rights
The Devotional Guy™ 
Thank you so much for this, Stella. Thanks for trusting me with a part of
your story. I am sorry to hear about your being bullied online. That’s sad. I am glad that you are making forward progress.
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That is interesting, Stella. Thank you for sharing.
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Thank you for your question.
For me, it’s never been about forcing myself into fear — it’s been about slowly teaching my body that the things it learned to panic over aren’t dangerous anymore.
My first real experience with exposure therapy happened long before I had the language for it. After the house fire, I couldn’t tolerate the smell of burning wood without my whole system reacting intensely. So I started small — a campfire at a distance, a bit of smoke on the breeze, letting myself stay with the sensation just long enough for my body to realize I was safe. Over time, that smell stopped being a threat and became just a smell again. That’s exposure therapy in its simplest form: returning to what you fear, gently and on your own terms, until your nervous system updates the story.
I’ve used the same approach in my healing from the online harassment. Going back and re-reading old emails and documents sent to me by bullies, going out in my community being around people, visiting crowded places, even writing publicly about what happened — each one was its own exposure. Not to retraumatize myself, but to reclaim the parts of my life that fear had taken over. Every time I stayed present with the discomfort instead of running from it, I felt a little more like myself again.
So when I talk about exposure therapy, I’m really talking about learning to meet fear with awareness instead of avoidance. It’s slow, it’s intentional, and it’s been one of the most powerful tools in helping me rebuild my sense of safety, especially in the public eye.
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You’re welcome. I forgot to mention that the weirdest thing that triggered his flashbacks from Korea was the smell of garlic. He said that the North Koreans ate so much in their diet, they could smell them approaching right before a battle. Triggers, like you mentioned, can be strange and varied. Blessings
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Amen. For sure, He is. Thanks for reading and sharing your thoughts, Bridget.
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Tell me more about exposure therapy. What does that look like, Stella? Thanks for sharing your own experience and for reading my post.
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This is really enlightening, and definitely something to ponder. I am someone who doesn’t like a lot of noise in general. But I have noticed that I “brace for impact” with some noises and situations. I really love your point about triggers being an invitation to bring our hurts to God! What a gift He is to us, in any and every situation 🙌🏻
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Thanks Dana. Personally, I’ve found naming what it is and not fighting are extremely helpful. The more I deny or resist it, the longer it lingers.
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Rainer, I’m reading a book on ACT Therapy and, you are right, it says that acknowledging is important to diminish the trigger’s emotional power. We recognize it and let it go. Granted, this takes time and practice and patience and, most of all, God!
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I have too many triggers. The smells and sounds of certain wood burning, any kind of fire actually, and the default sound of a new email coming in…
I am a firm believer in exposure therapy and after a few years can be around fires now. I am getting used again now to certain sounds, like the ding of a new email too.
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Thanks for sharing this ultimately beautiful story about your dad, Sue.
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Thank you so much for your vulnerability and transparency, Alan. I appreciate you. Blessings to you and Susan as well.
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Rainer, my dad had genuine flashbacks from being a tank commander on the front lines in Korea. And seeing massive deaths. Back then, it wasn’t called by any name like PTSD. But over time, God found him an outlet that transformed him. He served in a different front line of working with death row inmates as a Gideons counselor. Right before he knew that he was dying, I asked him what he would miss most (other than family and friends). Without hesitation he said that it was his prison ministry. It gave him purpose and a way to channel his post war angst. And he was our hero always.
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It is interesting reading about your triggers which I can sympathise with in a small way. I don’t have specific triggers but I have fragile emotions which can be set off easily – this came as a side effect of my brain tumours. As you say so well, these things bring us closer to Him who cares for all our needs. God bless you and Terri today 🙏
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