We've all had people in our lives that have pushed our proverbial buttons a time or two and we end up blaming them for how we feel. But what if there is something much deeper going on during these not-so-pleasant interactions?
If we have had painful experiences in our past, as a child, or even as an adult that we haven't fully dealt with and are still lugging around these old wounds within us, the unexpressed emotions from these experiences can actually trigger our reactions to things seemingly unrelated. What I mean is, repressed feelings affect our response toward the people and events in our lives right now. This is because we are always viewing life through the lens of our past joys and sorrows. In other words, our experiences impact the way we see the world.
So these people that rouse our frustration, irritation or even anger are really doing us a huge favor. They are messengers that come along and metaphorically stick a finger in our wounds to point our where we're losing power.
When we can face our pain and allow ourselves to fully express any past regret, grief or heartache, the suffering ends. It is then that the urge to point our finger in blame vanishes, the annoyance is gone and we realize that no one can really ruffle our feathers anymore.