The Pause Before the P.I.V.O.T

📰 Desert Health News📰

July/August:

Pause Before the Pivot: The Strength of Stillness

By: Christy Curtis

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What’s the scariest thing you’ve ever done? For me, it wasn’t changing careers. It wasn’t starting over in my mid-40s. It wasn’t letting go of a life I thought would unfold differently. It was choosing to pivot. Because pivoting asks us to do something that feels completely counterintuitive. It asks us to pause when everything inside us wants to panic.

Perhaps you’ve been there. Maybe you’re teetering on the decision of retirement. Maybe you’re navigating a divorce, an empty nest, caregiving, burnout, a health challenge or a growing sense that the life you’ve built no longer fits the person you’re becoming. Life rarely unfolds exactly as planned. And at some point, nearly all of us find ourselves asking the same question: “What now?”

Our human instinct is often to move faster. We search for answers, make plans, seek advice and try to figure out the quickest route forward. The brain craves certainty. It wants to close the loop, reduce discomfort and convince us we’re making the “right” decision.

But after years as a wellness educator, mindfulness specialist, well-being coach and former athlete, I’ve learned something important: Meaningful change rarely begins with action. It begins with awareness.

As a basketball player, I learned the importance of a two-foot jump stop. Before changing direction, you don’t keep running at full speed. You land. Both feet grounded. Stable. Aware. Only then can you pivot. Forward. Backward. In a completely new direction. But always from a place of control rather than chaos. Life works much the same way. When we rush through transitions, we often make decisions from fear, urgency or uncertainty. When we pause, we create space to listen. That realization inspired a framework I now teach called P.I.V.O.T.

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