Believe it or not, words are like the gas pedal for emotions. The metaphor of the gas pedal should having you envisioning rapid velocity and acceleration as you apply more pressure to the pedal. The connection between your emotional response and the words in your head or that come out of your mouth are very much the same as the gas pedal.
As an example the word enraged brings to mind a person that is so angry or furious that they are either out of control or on the verge of being out of control. The word annoyed brings to mind a person with a smoldering anger, someone that is very angry but still in control of their anger. And then there is a seldom used word “peeved” which is to be slightly angry or annoyed. A person that is peeved might just sit with a frown on their face to show their annoyance. So you can see that there are multiple physical patterns and responses associated with the descriptive word.
What if you used a “softer” word like annoyed or peeved to describe your emotions the next time you experience a situation that angers you, and then pause to identify the underlying fear of “what am I not going to get” or “what am I going to lose” to recognize the trigger point.
