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We are triggered, stirred emotionally, by people, occurrences, words spoken, or actions taken.

However, this triggering is not a passive occurrence.

It allows us to reflect, understand, and react uniquely, based on our knowledge and wisdom, instead of mere instinctual reactions.

When we refer to the Quran as our operational manual—our guidebook to leading a fulfilled, morally upright life—it helps us reconfigure our default settings.

The Quran teaches us how to transform from a reactive state of anger, blame, and self-pity, predominantly driven by our emotions, to a proactive state of forgiveness and compassion flowing from thought-out choices and reflections.

Doing this enhances our resilience and diminishes our susceptibility to becoming victims of manipulation.

Understandably, society is a large pond filled with a variety of fish.

Some may be well-intentioned, while others may harbor malicious intent.

The latter could manipulate us by using our susceptibility to emotional triggers, dictating how we think, feel, and even act.

However, when we are conscious of ourselves and our intentions, our predisposition to these manipulations lessens significantly.

The Quran reminds us that we may ‘dislike a thing and in it is good’ or ‘like a thing that is bad.’

This understanding pushes us to rethink our likes and dislikes and question our judgments.

With this methodology, we rewire our tendencies to associate likes and dislikes with good and evil.

As we progress, this rethinking exercise could become our ordinary reflex, protecting us from manipulative emotional appeals disguised as logical reasoning.

Seek the ability to detach from personal upheavals, to ask pertinent introspective questions, to reflect on our actions, and not to let our instincts override our logical judgment.

We must constantly reassess our blind spots in emotions, thoughts, and actions and correct our understanding and response to environmental triggers.

This quest is the ideal way of protecting our inner peace from being morally, emotionally, and psychologically compromised.

Remember, we are not merely good or bad but a complex mix of emotions, experiences, and thoughts that all contribute to our uniqueness.

Cherish, enrich, and allow it to form our best version, leading to inner peace and tranquility.