Whole Again: Mindfulness and Resilience Through Kintsugi Wisdom

The Whole Again Podcast: Mindfulness and Resilience through Kinstugi Wisdom airs every Monday, Wednesday and Friday with Pause Breathe Reflect Microdose Meditations, Growth Mindset and Mindfulness Tips, to help us transform our scars into healing and resilience.

And between May and October, I'm sharing a new series I'm calling: A Perfectly Imperfect Union. It's about connecting with every day folks as they reflect on America at 250. Conversations will air every Tuesday, Thursday and Saturday.

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Why does Michael end every podcast and blog post with the same six words from one of his beloved movies?

In this Friday Growth Mindset Tip, tip number 28 in his yearlong series celebrating the 25th anniversary of his Last Bad Day, Michael unpacks the story behind his signature sign-off, "Have fun storming the castle."

He traces the line back to a favorite scene in The Princess Bride, where Miracle Max and his wife Valerie send Westley off on an impossible rescue mission.

You will discover:

• Why Miracle Max's self-doubt, Westley's support system, and Valerie's push all reflect something deeply human
• How this line became Michael's countermeasure to greed, hatred, and delusion, the three poisons at the heart of mindfulness
• Why Michael believes love, and the kindness, empathy, and generosity that come with it, fuels resilience and endurance
• How a lighthearted movie quote became a serious reminder to pursue love in everything we do

Press play to discover the story behind the phrase, and why Michael believes pursuing love, even when it feels like it will take a miracle, is what helps us create a meaningful life.

You can now download my Pause Breathe Reflect App with Microdose EQ for FREE on Apple’s App Store or Google Play. Discover how to spend less time on your phone and more time on things that bring you joy. Also, find the support you need to navigate today’s uncertainty with more calm and grace.

Receive a FREE copy of my book: “My Last Bad Day Shift.”

We can also connect on LinkedIn.

Subscribe to be sure you don’t miss any of the micro-meditations, wellness tips, and guidance that I publish every Monday, Wednesday, and Friday at 7:11 am.

The Whole Again Podcast: Mindfulness and Resilience through Kinstugi Wisdom airs every Monday, Wednesday and Friday with Pause Breathe Reflect Microdose Meditations, Growth Mindset and Mindfulness Tips, to help us transform our scars into healing and resilience.

And between May and October, I'm sharing a new series I'm calling: A Perfectly Imperfect Union. It's about connecting with every day folks as they reflect on America at 250. Conversations will air every Tuesday, Thursday and Saturday.

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What are you doing to make someone else's life better?

That's the question at the heart of this conversation with Bill Jollie, a 14-year leukemia survivor, pharma professional, and founder of Interrupt Hunger.

In this episode of A Perfectly Imperfect Union, Bill shares how his own cancer battle reshaped his view of the healthcare system, why he thinks AI will amplify who we already are rather than change us, and why that means we need to get serious about being kind to each other.

He also shares how serving in the Marines, marriage, and fatherhood shaped his perspective.

If you've ever wondered whether kindness is still a strategy worth betting on, this conversation makes the case.

Bill's question for you and our next guess is:

What are you doing to make someone else's life better?

Share your thoughts in the comments and share this episode with someone you love.

You can discover more about Bill via his website.

You can now download my Pause Breathe Reflect App with Microdose EQ for FREE on Apple’s App Store or Google Play. Discover how to spend less time on your phone and more time on things that bring you joy. Also, find the support you need to navigate today’s uncertainty with more calm and grace.

Receive a FREE copy of my book: “My Last Bad Day Shift.”

We can also connect on LinkedIn.

Subscribe to be sure you don’t miss any of the micro-meditations, wellness tips, and guidance that I publish every Monday, Wednesday, and Friday at 7:11 am.

The Whole Again Podcast: Mindfulness and Resilience through Kinstugi Wisdom airs every Monday, Wednesday and Friday with Pause Breathe Reflect Microdose Meditations, Growth Mindset and Mindfulness Tips, to help us transform our scars into healing and resilience.

And between May and October, I'm sharing a new series I'm calling: A Perfectly Imperfect Union. It's about connecting with every day folks as they reflect on America at 250. Conversations will air every Tuesday, Thursday and Saturday.

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What happens when you can't control the weather, but you still have to keep pedaling?

That's the question Michael is wrestling with mile after mile on the Empire State Trail, as he rides over 400 miles from the Canadian border to New Jersey.

Michael shares a lesson that keeps resurfacing on every long ride he's ever taken, one of the nine qualities of mindfulness: acceptance.

Not passive resignation, not lowering the bar, but the active practice of seeing things as they actually are before trying to change them.

Because arguing with a headwind, or with the rain, or with reality itself, is an argument you will always lose, and every ounce of energy spent resisting is energy you don't have left to move forward.

Michael also opens up about what's ahead: the anniversary of his last bad day, and tomorrow's episode of this summer's series, A Perfectly Imperfect Union, where he's been talking with everyday Americans about hope, division, and what it takes to come together.

His question for you this week is simple.

Where are you arguing with reality instead of accepting it and taking intentional action?

You can now download my Pause Breathe Reflect App with Microdose EQ for FREE on Apple’s App Store or Google Play. Discover how to spend less time on your phone and more time on things that bring you joy. Also, find the support you need to navigate today’s uncertainty with more calm and grace.

Receive a FREE copy of my book: “My Last Bad Day Shift.”

We can also connect on LinkedIn.

Subscribe to be sure you don’t miss any of the micro-meditations, wellness tips, and guidance that I publish every Monday, Wednesday, and Friday at 7:11 am.

The Whole Again Podcast: Mindfulness and Resilience through Kinstugi Wisdom airs every Monday, Wednesday and Friday with Pause Breathe Reflect Microdose Meditations, Growth Mindset and Mindfulness Tips, to help us transform our scars into healing and resilience.

And between May and October, I'm sharing a new series I'm calling: A Perfectly Imperfect Union. It's about connecting with every day folks as they reflect on America at 250. Conversations will air every Tuesday, Thursday and Saturday.

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What are you choosing every day: joy or the weight of the world?

That's the question Demetria Sloan leaves us with by the end of this conversation.

In this episode of A Perfectly Imperfect Union, Demetria traces her family's tangled American story, including a DNA surprise that revealed their earliest known maternal relative was a Native American woman, alongside deep European and African roots.

"We are as America as America can be," she says, and it shows in how she talks about the country itself: full of oxymorons, messy on purpose, home for better or worse.

Her birthday wish for America is radical empathy, recognizing the pain behind the bravado.

And her question for you and our next guest is:

How are you choosing joy each day?

Share your thoughts in the comments and share this episode with someone you love.

You can discover more about Demetria via her website.

And here's the YouTube link to the interview I referenced.

Finally, a recipe for Key Lime Cake.

You can now download my Pause Breathe Reflect App with Microdose EQ for FREE on Apple’s App Store or Google Play. Discover how to spend less time on your phone and more time on things that bring you joy. Also, find the support you need to navigate today’s uncertainty with more calm and grace.

Receive a FREE copy of my book: “My Last Bad Day Shift.”

We can also connect on LinkedIn.

Subscribe to be sure you don’t miss any of the micro-meditations, wellness tips, and guidance that I publish every Monday, Wednesday, and Friday at 7:11 am.

The Whole Again Podcast: Mindfulness and Resilience through Kinstugi Wisdom airs every Monday, Wednesday and Friday with Pause Breathe Reflect Microdose Meditations, Growth Mindset and Mindfulness Tips, to help us transform our scars into healing and resilience.

And between May and October, I'm sharing a new series I'm calling: A Perfectly Imperfect Union. It's about connecting with every day folks as they reflect on America at 250. Conversations will air every Tuesday, Thursday and Saturday.

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Michael kicks off this week with a microdose meditation straight from his own mindfulness beginnings, a box breathing practice he turned to when he first started this journey.

Pulled from the Pause, Breathe, Reflect app, this guided session invites you to settle into a comfortable position, connect with gratitude for your body's ability to breathe, and move through the steady rhythm of 4-4-4-4 box breathing.

Along the way, Michael offers a gentle reminder that a wandering mind is not a failure; it is simply part of being human, and the practice is in noticing and coming back.

You will discover:

A grounding breath practice to open your week with intention

The 4-4-4-4 box breathing technique and how to follow along

A reminder that losing count or focus is not a setback; it is part of the process

How this small daily practice connects to a greater sense of resilience and calm

Press play and take a few minutes for yourself this Monday.

And if this practice resonates, share it with someone in your peloton who could use a moment to breathe too.

You can now download my Pause Breathe Reflect App with Microdose EQ for FREE on Apple’s App Store or Google Play. Discover how to spend less time on your phone and more time on things that bring you joy. Also, find the support you need to navigate today’s uncertainty with more calm and grace.

Receive a FREE copy of my book: “My Last Bad Day Shift.”

We can also connect on LinkedIn.

Subscribe to be sure you don’t miss any of the micro-meditations, wellness tips, and guidance that I publish every Monday, Wednesday, and Friday at 7:11 am.

The Whole Again Podcast: Mindfulness and Resilience through Kinstugi Wisdom airs every Monday, Wednesday and Friday with Pause Breathe Reflect Microdose Meditations, Growth Mindset and Mindfulness Tips, to help us transform our scars into healing and resilience.

And between May and October, I'm sharing a new series I'm calling: A Perfectly Imperfect Union. It's about connecting with every day folks as they reflect on America at 250. Conversations will air every Tuesday, Thursday and Saturday.

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What does it look like to stay curious instead of certain?

Today we head to Massachusetts and sit down with Ken Lubin.

He believes most of the noise dividing us isn't coming from real conversations at all. It's coming from keyboard warriors and a news cycle built to keep us riled up. His fix isn't complicated, but it isn't easy either.

Take the emotion out. Actually listen to the other side's beliefs instead of just waiting for your turn to talk. He puts it simply: if you focus on the 95% that's good instead of the 2 to 5% everyone argues about, you're better off.

Ken talks about growing up between two identities, athlete and businessman, and how that same integration shows up in how he thinks about the country right now.

He also breaks the "cake streak." When asked what he's serving up for America's 250th birthday, Ken skips dessert entirely and pours a Maine Beer Company IPA instead, because he'd rather sit by the ocean with a friend and share a beer.

Ken's question for you and our next guest is:

What do you believe is coming next for America? More divisive, or more unified?

Share your thoughts in the comments and share this episode with someone you love.

You can now download my Pause Breathe Reflect App with Microdose EQ for FREE on Apple’s App Store or Google Play. Discover how to spend less time on your phone and more time on things that bring you joy. Also, find the support you need to navigate today’s uncertainty with more calm and grace.

Receive a FREE copy of my book: “My Last Bad Day Shift.”

We can also connect on LinkedIn.

Subscribe to be sure you don’t miss any of the micro-meditations, wellness tips, and guidance that I publish every Monday, Wednesday, and Friday at 7:11 am.

The Whole Again Podcast: Mindfulness and Resilience through Kinstugi Wisdom airs every Monday, Wednesday and Friday with Pause Breathe Reflect Microdose Meditations, Growth Mindset and Mindfulness Tips, to help us transform our scars into healing and resilience.

And between May and October, I'm sharing a new series I'm calling: A Perfectly Imperfect Union. It's about connecting with every day folks as they reflect on America at 250. Conversations will air every Tuesday, Thursday and Saturday.

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Tomorrow isn't guaranteed. Have you told the people you love that you love them?

That question sat with a nurse in the trauma room at the University of New Mexico Hospital in Albuquerque, and she brought it straight to Michael the moment he came out of the ICU.

In this episode of Whole Again, Michael shares tip number 27 in his 25-Lessons-in-25-Years series, marking the eve of the actual anniversary of his last bad day. It is one of the simplest tips of the series, and one of the most urgent.

A nurse's words in the aftermath of his near-death cycling accident became a lesson Michael has carried for a quarter century: tomorrow isn't promised, so make sure the people in your life know they are loved, today.

This episode is intentionally short, because Michael wants you to spend the time you would normally spend listening doing something else entirely: reaching out. A call. A text. A moment of honesty with someone who matters to you.

You can now download my Pause Breathe Reflect App with Microdose EQ for FREE on Apple’s App Store or Google Play. Discover how to spend less time on your phone and more time on things that bring you joy. Also, find the support you need to navigate today’s uncertainty with more calm and grace.

Receive a FREE copy of my book: “My Last Bad Day Shift.”

We can also connect on LinkedIn.

Subscribe to be sure you don’t miss any of the micro-meditations, wellness tips, and guidance that I publish every Monday, Wednesday, and Friday at 7:11 am.

The Whole Again Podcast: Mindfulness and Resilience through Kinstugi Wisdom airs every Monday, Wednesday and Friday with Pause Breathe Reflect Microdose Meditations, Growth Mindset and Mindfulness Tips, to help us transform our scars into healing and resilience.

And between May and October, I'm sharing a new series I'm calling: A Perfectly Imperfect Union. It's about connecting with every day folks as they reflect on America at 250. Conversations will air every Tuesday, Thursday and Saturday.

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What does it mean to be a land of reinvention?

Today we head to Washington and sit down with Kristen Graham. She brings to this conversation as America turns 250.

Kristen talks about America as a place where you can plant yourself somewhere new and start over, again and again. But she doesn't shy away from the cracks either. She points to the widening wealth gap, what she calls the K-shaped economy, where the top and bottom are pulling further apart every year.

If you've ever wondered whether reinvention and repair can happen at the same time, this conversation makes the case that they have to.

Kristen's question for you and our next guest is:

Which state would you live in if you were to leave the one you're in?

Share your thoughts in the comments and share this episode with someone you love.

You can now download my Pause Breathe Reflect App with Microdose EQ for FREE on Apple’s App Store or Google Play. Discover how to spend less time on your phone and more time on things that bring you joy. Also, find the support you need to navigate today’s uncertainty with more calm and grace.

Receive a FREE copy of my book: “My Last Bad Day Shift.”

We can also connect on LinkedIn.

Subscribe to be sure you don’t miss any of the micro-meditations, wellness tips, and guidance that I publish every Monday, Wednesday, and Friday at 7:11 am.

The Whole Again Podcast: Mindfulness and Resilience through Kinstugi Wisdom airs every Monday, Wednesday and Friday with Pause Breathe Reflect Microdose Meditations, Growth Mindset and Mindfulness Tips, to help us transform our scars into healing and resilience.

And between May and October, I'm sharing a new series I'm calling: A Perfectly Imperfect Union. It's about connecting with every day folks as they reflect on America at 250. Conversations will air every Tuesday, Thursday and Saturday.

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This is a rebroadcast from the days when Whole Again was known as The Kintsugi Podcast, and it was part of my Rise to Ripple Series aka my cycle across America.

What will you regret if you never do it?

That's the question at the center of this episode of Whole Again, recorded on the road during Michael's cross-country ride.

This month, Michael steps away from the usual conversation format to bring you along for the ride, literally, sharing stories from his journey across America and the lessons found in unexpected places, this time in Wisdom, Montana.

Between a swarm of flies, a too-close encounter with a semi-truck, and a bag of Ripple potato chips, Michael circles back to the theme that shaped this entire trip: being more afraid of not living than dying.

He shares how his accident, what he calls My Last Bad Day, forced him to accept his own mortality, and how that acceptance became the freedom to stop arguing with reality and start living on his own terms.

Along the way, he revisits Steve Jobs' Stanford commencement address and Bronnie Ware's research on the regrets of the dying, and lands on the number one regret: not having the courage to live a life true to yourself, and instead living the life someone else wanted for you.

Michael's invitation is simple. Don't wait. Whatever it is you've been putting off- the book, the podcast, the mindfulness practice, the ask, the leap- treat your time as the finite thing it is.

Before you go, Michael has a question for you:

What is one thing you've been putting off that you're now ready to stop waiting on?

You can now download my Pause Breathe Reflect App with Microdose EQ for FREE on Apple’s App Store or Google Play. Discover how to spend less time on your phone and more time on things that bring you joy. Also, find the support you need to navigate today’s uncertainty with more calm and grace.

Receive a FREE copy of my book: “My Last Bad Day Shift.”

We can also connect on LinkedIn.

Subscribe to be sure you don’t miss any of the micro-meditations, wellness tips, and guidance that I publish every Monday, Wednesday, and Friday at 7:11 am.

The Whole Again Podcast: Mindfulness and Resilience through Kinstugi Wisdom airs every Monday, Wednesday and Friday with Pause Breathe Reflect Microdose Meditations, Growth Mindset and Mindfulness Tips, to help us transform our scars into healing and resilience.

And between May and October, I'm sharing a new series I'm calling: A Perfectly Imperfect Union. It's about connecting with every day folks as they reflect on America at 250. Conversations will air every Tuesday, Thursday and Saturday.

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Today we head to Vermont and sit down with Brian Riordan.

For him, America means open and free public land, caring for your neighbors, and the belief that opportunity is still real if you're willing to put in the effort.

He's gone from a ski bum in Steamboat Springs to a waterless cabin in Fairbanks, Alaska, to now leading mapping for a major tech company, and he sees his own story as proof of what this country can offer.

During our conversation, Brian reflects on his grandfather, a World War II B-17 pilot nicknamed Rip Riordan who flew 51 missions, earned a Purple Heart, and came home from war never speaking about what he saw. He processed it quietly, through stamp collecting. Brian now holds that same collection, and he's waiting for the moment in life when he can finally sit down and add to it himself.

Brian also shares his thoughts on AI, comparing it to the calculator he never had growing up with dyslexia, and on why he believes America's real strength is the balance of two parties pulling toward the middle, not one side drowning out the other.

Brian's question for you and our next guest is: What is the greatest adventure you have gone on, and why?

Share your thoughts in the comments and share this episode with someone you love.

You can now download my Pause Breathe Reflect App with Microdose EQ for FREE on Apple’s App Store or Google Play. Discover how to spend less time on your phone and more time on things that bring you joy. Also, find the support you need to navigate today’s uncertainty with more calm and grace.

Receive a FREE copy of my book: “My Last Bad Day Shift.”

We can also connect on LinkedIn.

Subscribe to be sure you don’t miss any of the micro-meditations, wellness tips, and guidance that I publish every Monday, Wednesday, and Friday at 7:11 am.