For six years, attorney Regina Graziani lived in a constant cycle of injury and rehab. Broken foot, then the other foot. Back problems. Shoulder issues. Always something. As a high-achieving lawyer working 70-hour weeks, she did what overachievers do—she pushed through, checked all the boxes, and ignored the signals.

“I thought if I just muscled through it, it would be fine,” Regina shares in her chapter in The Wisdom Collection, our international bestselling anthology. “I was eating right, working out six days a week, doing everything I was supposed to do. But I wasn’t really paying attention.”

The Body’s Desperate Message

Regina’s chapter centers on a profound insight from Gabriel Maté: “Your body will always find a way to express what your mind is suppressing.” For years, her body was politely saying “excuse me, excuse me, excuse me.” When she didn’t listen to those whispers, it finally screamed “STOP.”

The breaking point came when she couldn’t get out of bed, couldn’t even lift a kettlebell at the gym without tears. Her body had moved from gentle taps to crisis mode—and it quite literally thought it was going to die.

From Breakdown to Breakthrough

What makes Regina’s story particularly powerful is her honesty about the fear of sharing it. As an attorney who had always hidden behind the safety of academic and legal writing, putting her personal struggles in black and white felt terrifying. “It was the first time I’d ever written about me, bared my soul,” she admits.

But that vulnerability led to transformation. Once Regina started listening to her body instead of fighting it, everything changed. The constant injuries stopped. She trained consistently. And in a beautiful full-circle moment, she stood at the Sun Gate overlooking Machu Picchu—completely present, nothing hurting, just in awe.

A Message for Every Overachiever

Regina’s wisdom isn’t just for lawyers trapped in a toxic work culture. “There are overachievers in every aspect of business,” she says, getting emotional. “I know I’m not the only one living like this.”

Her chapter in The Wisdom Collection offers hope for anyone who’s been ignoring their body’s increasingly desperate attempts to communicate. Sometimes what we perceive as failure—like being forced to stop—is actually what saves our lives.

The Wisdom Collection is available now, featuring Regina Graziani’s powerful chapter alongside insights from 18 other contributors who’ve transformed their struggles into wisdom worth sharing.