Airports are a great place to test your ability to turn off the panic button because there are plenty of stressful situations when you travel. I got stuck for 52 hours.

Watch the video or continue reading to find out more.

I’m at the airport right now, on my way to a speaking engagement in Toronto and then heading to Victoria, so I spend a lot of time in airports. Last winter, my husband and I got stuck in Quebec City for 52 hours while they were trying to fix the door of the aircraft.

The part they needed to close the aircraft door was coming from Ontario. We were told it was on its way, but instead of being flown in, it had to travel by vehicle because the part itself was highly explosive and could not be transported on an airplane. Ironically, they were going to use it to fix the door of an airplane.

There were so many stressful elements to the whole situation, but they never explained all of that to us. They simply kept saying, “It’s delayed for another hour… another hour… another hour.” At the end of each day, they would give us hotel vouchers and tell us to come back the next morning. This went on for two nights, spending full days at the airport.

Bottom line: it was stressful.

At one point, because if you’ve met me, you probably know what I do for a living, I sat there thinking, “This is actually great. I get to work. I get to catch up on emails. I get to respond to people.”

I had a training session I needed to prepare, so I completed that. I had a PowerPoint presentation to build, so I finished that too. Fifty-two hours is a lot of time to move projects forward.

Then, at one point, I thought, “I’m just going to relax now. I’m going to watch some Netflix.”

I was watching something really funny and laughing when my husband looked at me and said, “What are you doing? Why are you laughing? This is not funny. This is terrible. We’re stuck at the airport. Stop being so happy.”

I started laughing even more, and then he started laughing too. He said, “Yeah, actually, you’re right. Maybe we should just let it go. It doesn’t matter.”

Everyone around us was frustrated, mean, and grouchy, but at the end of the day, you just have to do what you have to do.

There are so many tools you can use to turn off that panic button and regain control of your prefrontal cortex.

Ask yourself a few simple questions:
Will panicking help?
Will the part arrive faster if I’m grouchy?
What can I do right now?
How do I move forward?

I could have booked another flight. In my case, I didn’t really have anywhere urgent to be, so it was a little easier to stay calm. But if I had needed to be somewhere immediately, there were other airlines and other means of transportation I could have used.

The key is to become resourceful.

Ask yourself:
What’s my next step?
Who do I need to contact?
Who do I need to inform?
Who can help me with this?
Who can step in for me?

Do you have someone who could do what you do and save the day if you somehow couldn’t make it?

There are always options, but the first step is getting ahold of yourself.

When you are in a good mood and sending feel-good chemicals through your bloodstream, that is when you are resourceful. That is when your brain works for you.

When you are in prefrontal cortex overload—panicking, angry, frustrated, and emotionally overwhelmed—that is when you are not at your best. That is also when you may regret a few things you say to the poor airline agent who is simply trying to help.

They are just doing their job. It’s not their fault.

Actually, it is often nobody’s fault. Parts break. Things happen.

So remember that on your next airport trip.

And when something goes wrong, do your best to control your own prefrontal cortex, because that is where you live—inside your own head.

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