During the early days of COVID, I remember watching people pile their trolleys high, pushing ahead, grabbing what they could. There was no eye contact, no pause, no thought for the person next to them. It was survival mode in its rawest form.
And I understood it. Fear does that to people. When we feel unsafe, our nervous system narrows our focus—what matters is what’s directly in front of us. Protecting ourselves, protecting our families. The rest becomes background noise.
But survival mode doesn’t just show up in times of crisis. I see it everywhere—people always trying to get ahead, cutting corners, justifying it with phrases like “I’m a hustler” or “I’m just playing the game.” These words make it sound clever, like a strategy. But in reality, they often mean stepping over others, taking more than what’s needed, and calling it winning.
What’s fair about that? What’s human about that?
When survival mode runs the show long-term, it erodes trust. It teaches us to expect that others will take advantage if given the chance. And that belief—that we have to take before we’re taken from—keeps us locked in a loop of disconnection and fear.
At A Positive Start, we work differently. We are a grassroots Community Interest Company, built on trust, fairness, and community. All of our work is underpinned by the trauma-informed TRUST framework, ensuring that everything we do creates safety, connection, and genuine support.
Without truth, there is no trust. Without trust, there is no safety. And without safety, there is no healing.
That’s why we use a three-tiered trust based donation pricing model, supported by all of our therapists. Because healing shouldn’t be a privilege for the few—it should be accessible to those who need it most. And when we trust in each other, we build something far stronger than fear.
We build belonging.
And in the end, that’s what real survival looks like—not stepping over others, but standing with them.