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This past week tested every ounce of my patience, flight cancellations, app errors, and a full-blown airport meltdown before sunrise.

But it also reminded me how much strength it takes to advocate for yourself when you’re already exhausted, and how important it is that we show up for one another when systems fail.

When the System Breaks Down (and You’re Already at Your Limit)

By the time I got to the airport at 4:30 a.m., I was already running on fumes. I’d had issues with these flights since I booked them, small changes, app glitches, rebookings, and at one point, my entire ticket being canceled by someone else. I had called, rebooked, checked, rechecked. I had my boarding pass, my confirmation email, everything looked fine.

Until I got to the counter.

“Your ticket has no value.”
What does that even mean?

From there, it turned into a circus of conflicting answers, hold music, disappearing reservations, and agents playing let’s-make-a-deal with my bank account. One said I had to buy a new $2,500 ticket, another told me to wait, then someone else “fixed it,” then it disappeared again. I was crying in the terminal, trying to stay calm, while people behind the counter argued over whose system was right.

Eventually, I got a seat, again, but not without feeling completely drained.

Here’s the thing: advocating for yourself when you’re already at your wits’ end is brutal. You know you should stay calm. You know you should take notes, ask for names, document everything. But sometimes, you just want to go home.

And this, this right here, is why I think about empathy differently. Because for every person who “gives up” when dealing with broken systems (whether it’s airlines or food assistance programs like SNAP), there are dozens more who are trying just as hard, they’re just exhausted, unheard, and lost in red tape.

Self-advocacy takes energy, clarity, and courage, three things that are hard to come by when life keeps pulling the rug out from under you.

So if you ever find yourself or someone else in that space…
📝 Document.
🧠 Don’t fear, face.
🗣️ If you don’t get the answer you need, ask someone else.

And please, be kind. Because we never really know how hard someone had to fight just to get to that counter.

From Travel Chaos to Real-World Wellness

The same applies to health, fitness, and wellness. Sometimes we assume people “don’t care” or “aren’t trying,” when in reality, they’re doing everything they can within a system that often fails to support them, from confusing healthcare processes to misinformation to the daily grind that leaves little energy for self-care.

That woman at the ticket counter didn’t just fix a booking, she saw me as a person. The man on the phone followed the script, but she listened, empathized, and took action. That’s the difference.

In a society increasingly disconnected and dehumanized, the future of our well-being depends on how we show up for each other, not just through programs or policies, but through compassion, patience, and a willingness to step in when someone’s at their breaking point.

Because sometimes, real wellness starts with one human helping another remember they matter.

💪 If this hit home, share it with someone who might need a reminder that they’re not alone, and that strength doesn’t always look like pushing harder. Sometimes it looks like helping someone else simply stand back up.

Sometimes that means inviting a friend to the gym or a class, going for a walk together, or saying, “Hey, dinner’s on me tonight, let’s make it something that fuels us both.”

Wellness doesn’t always start with willpower. Sometimes it starts with connection, with showing up for each other when life feels heavy, offering a moment of grounding, movement, or nourishment that reminds someone they’re worth the effort.

That’s what Summit Stronger is about, rising together, one small act of support at a time.

Join the Summit Stronger Community:​
Be part of a community that believes wellness isn’t just personal, it’s collective. Come train, move, and grow stronger together.
👉 Join us at SummitStronger.com​

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Mental 🏔️ Peaks: The Science of Breakdown (and How Calm Is Contagious)

When we hit our breaking point, say, arriving at an airport at 4:30 a.m. on no sleep, dealing with ticket chaos and system failures, the body’s built-in stress mechanisms take over. Cortisol and adrenaline surge, heart rate climbs, muscle tension rises, and our prefrontal cortex (the part of the brain that handles calm reasoning) begins to go offline. This isn’t failure, it’s biology.

At these moments, our nervous system is seeking safety, both internal and external. That’s where what researchers call co-regulation comes in: one person’s regulated nervous system helps bring another’s back into balance. In other words, calm can spread. When someone speaks gently, holds steady, and shows up authentically, their presence becomes a neuro-biological anchor. MDPI+2Arielle Schwartz, PhD+2​

Here’s how the science breaks it down:

• Co-regulation involves the interaction of two nervous systems at both biological (hormonal/neural) and behavioral (tone, posture, voice) levels. MDPI+1​
• The “social engagement system” (a concept from Polyvagal Theory) suggests that our ventral vagal pathways activate in safe relational contexts, enabling connection, regulation and healthy nervous-system states. i-asc.org+1​
• The hormone Oxytocin plays a role in social bonding and may reduce stress-responses (for example, lower cortisol) when empathy and connection are present. ScienceDirect+2Frontiers+2​

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When someone is overwhelmed, including you or someone you care about, starting with calm matters. A deep breath. Eye-contact. A grounded presence. These are not fluff. They’re neuro-physiological tools. Because in a moment of panic, logic doesn’t step in first. The system does. And the system hears presence, not words.

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