Feeling Stuck? One Small Change Can Make a Surprising Difference
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Today, I finally removed the arms from my office chair.
Back in early January, when I went shopping for a new chair (because my old one had literally disintegrated) I had three criteria:
- Easily adjustable height
- Support for my lower back
- NO arms
Unfortunately, the only chair available that met my first two criteria came with arms.
Normally, the store carried an arm-free version. But they were sold out — likely because the price was 20% cheaper.
Since I was desperate, I bought the chair with arms.
“No problem,” I assured myself as I lugged the box to my car, “I just won’t add the arms when I build it at home.”
(And if you’re already guessing what happened next … yep. You’re 100% right. 😉)
When it came time to not add the arms, some part of my brain said:
“But you PAID for those arms! You should put them ON the chair! Otherwise, you’re going to <gasp> WASTE <gasp> TWO PERFECTLY GOOD ARMS!”
“No problem,” I assured myself as I dutifully screwed the arms onto the chair, “if they bother me, I can always remove them.”
(You can write the rest of this script, can’t you? 😂)
Fast-forward 17 months.
Those annoying chair arms have been bugging me to bits ever since January 2024.
I’d adjust the seat so it was the right height for me to type, but then when I’d try to roll myself close to my desk, the arms would go “bump” and bounce me backward.
So I’d have to adjust the seat back down—lower than felt good for typing—in order to position myself close enough to my desk.
17 months of feeling stuck choosing between the right height or the right closeness.
Until today.
When I finally remembered: “I have another option!”
Five minutes later, I’d stripped those irritating arms off my chair.
A Metaphor for Feeling Stuck
As you’ve likely guessed, this story is not about arms or no arms on office chairs. It’s actually about …
1. How habitual it is for HSPs to “adapt” to sensory strain — even when you don’t have to.
And how your propensity to “make do” can actively harm you, by creating unnecessary extra stimuli for your HSP brain and body to deal with. (When you’re already feeling stuck on overdrive trying to cope in a massively over-stimulating world.)
2. How easily you can start feeling stuck in a rut.
And how hard it can be to get out … especially when you keep doing the same thing day in and day out.
3. How experiencing something new can remind you of options you’ve forgotten.
Why did I finally remember that I could remove my office chair’s arms today, of all days?
Because yesterday, I got a new chair to go with my new writing desk in our living room. As I built the new chair, I realized: I love this new chair — it has no arms!
Experiencing something new can help you realize: “Oh yeah — I do have another option!”
So as you notice unnecessary sensory strain in your own daily life, here’s to less enduring and more Spirit-led discerning.
And more “removing the arms from your office chair” — whatever that ends up looking like for you.
