In this week’s post, we reflect on what truly holds value when life shakes our foundations. The experience pulled us into questions about time, urgency, and what it really means to show up. Join us as we explore a perspective that challenges how we measure what matters most.
NOVEMBER 28, 2025
This past week I found myself in the midst of a family medical emergency.
Since moving to France eight years ago, I always had a moment like this in the back of my head. What would happen if suddenly one of my family members had a medical emergency?
Last week I was faced with exactly this situation.
Of course, when I moved to France, I was aware this would likely happen one day. My family has lived scattered across different continents for decades and I was only one of many family members to make a life in a country away from their grandparents, parents, and siblings.
With visits back and forth the past few years have been much easier than the pandemic years. I was pulled into a comfortable rhythm with video calls, phone calls, and regular visits. And even though I was fully aware of the possibility of a medical emergency, nothing prepares you for when it actually happens.
Here I was last week, feeling sick to my stomach and grappling with the fact that I needed to get to Canada or I might miss the chance of saying goodbye to a loved one.
I placed frantic calls to a number of airlines only to find out that there were no discounts for last-minute emergency medical travel. The price of a flight the next day was astronomical. I felt conflicted for even thinking about the cost of a ticket while a loved one’s life was on the line.
Phone calls went back and forth over several days and nights. With the time difference, I was awake for over three days straight with not even a thought of being able to get any rest.
I truly was trying to ground, center, breathe, and return to zero but in those moments, managing myself on top of everything else proved infinitely more difficult than it had ever before.
The days started blurring into each other and I had no idea what time it was or whether I should be sleeping, eating, or working. I leaned on my work because it was the only steady thing available.
And while my family was surprised that I was editing podcast episodes and writing blog posts in the middle of the night between calls, those brief moments helped keep me centered in the chaos and uncertainty.
I found myself in a strange space of drawing upon all my training and certifications, trying to remember what I would tell a loved one or client in this situation, and not finding any answers.
Somewhere in the confusion and exhaustion it dawned on me that, as painful as this was, being physically in Canada was not the only thing that mattered.
Instead, what became clear to me was that my presence, whether here in France or there in Canada, is the most valuable thing I can give.
My presence in phone calls and video calls that became the lifeline between us. My presence in keeping other family members updated when it became too much for my family in Canada to manage.
My presence in holding space when my loved ones needed to cry, talk, express their emotions, or vent their anger, frustration, and fear in the uncertainty. My presence in sharing difficult decisions and choices that one family member alone could not shoulder.
Now, looking back at those days last week, I finally understand what building presence capital means. That the wealth of attention, care, and awareness we give to others actually multiplies when we freely give it.
It is not the same thing as spending time. I was spending many hours organizing logistics and medical care but presence is something entirely different.
And while both are needed especially in family emergencies, it is presence that makes the biggest impact and leaves a lasting imprint that changed us as a family unit.
The flights will be sorted and decisions will be made as the situation unfolds and evolves.
What I am sure of is that my presence made and continues to make a difference. And that alone is worth building presence capital.
I also realized that we do not need to wait for an emergency to start building presence capital with our loved ones, friends, and colleagues. Our presence is available to us any time. We can choose to invest in our relationships every day.
This whole experience invites a bigger reflection around where we might confuse “time spent” with “presence invested”.
Where do you spend time and confuse it with giving presence?
Perhaps at the dinner table when your mind is still on work. Maybe with friends when you check your phone instead of listening. Or in meetings when you are already drafting the next email in your head instead of tuning in.
What would shift if we began to measure our days not by how many hours we spent on tasks, but by how present we were in each moment?
It seems like such an obvious and simple concept but facing myself over and over again this past week I can honestly say it is not. Presence asks us to slow down, to step away from efficiency, and to be brave enough to be honest with ourselves.
Presence might not always align with our values, finances, or goals and at some point you may need to decide what is most important to you: hanging on to who you thought you were, or moving forward into a new way of being because both you and your life have evolved.
Yes, I feel family emergencies have a way of shaking something loose in you and making you question the very foundations of your being and your life.
Perhaps our true wealth lies not in how much time we have but in how fully we give ourselves to the moments that matter.
By Petra Brunnbauer
Petra Brunnbauer is an award-winning Mind-Body Coach, founder of The Jōrni®, host of the globally-ranked Jōrni Podcast, and author of The Functional Freeze Formula™. With a Master’s in Psychology and as a doctoral student in Mind-Body Medicine, Petra is committed to advancing holistic approaches to health and healing.