Coming Out of a Stall

Feeling stalled can happen to anyone. Stalls can occur with projects in process, new projects, or life in general. Experiencing a stall doesn't have to be a big deal as long as you can see your way clear to coming out of it. It is important to control the stall rather than allowing it to control you.

The first step in dealing with a stall is recognizing what is happening. You've lost momentum and are at risk of losing ground. The second step is assessing the cause of the stall and looking at options for coming out of it. You want to make sure that these options don't include the same approaches that brought on the stall in the first place. Albert Einstein defined insanity as doing the same thing over and over again and expecting different results.

Opting into new patterns may bring you into unchartered territory. Don't try to get out of the stall so quickly that you jump into this territory unprepared. Think and plan. Once you're comfortable with a course of action, you are ready to act. The hope is that this new action will resolve the stall. If not, repeat the process. It may take a few tries to get the result you want.

What does all this have to do with chronic pain? Chronic pain itself is an ongoing project and one that seeps into many areas of life. Thus, if we feel stalled with it, there is the potential to feel stalled in other areas. More so than before chronic pain, an awareness of and attention to stalls will be helpful to us. If we are aware in this way, life will be easier.