It's Time to a Mindfulness and Resilience Celebration - It's Episode 500 or is it 502? - Whole Again: Mindfulness and Resilience Through Kintsugi Wisdom

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Why celebrate episode 502 instead of 500?

Because 502 is two more than 500. And because most podcasts never make it this far.

When I started podcasting back in 2019 under the show's old name, The Kintsugi Podcast, I had no idea if I'd ever reach 500 episodes.

Honestly, I had no idea what I was doing. Listening back to those early episodes proves the old adage that you're usually bad before you get better.

But I kept going. I took a break during the pandemic, came back, rebranded the show as Whole Again, and committed to being the type of person who keeps showing up.

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Hey there, it's Michael. Welcome to Whole Again, the show that's here in support of the person you're becoming and a meaningful life. And welcome to episode 502. Can I get a woo-hoo? Can I get a awesome sauce? And right now you might be thinking, "Aren't you a day late and a dollar short on this whole celebration thing, Michael?

Shouldn't you have done this with episode 500?" And that's a fair point. Most people, if they can get to 500, will have a big celebration. They might celebrate 100 or 250 or even 1,000. But 502 is worth just as much celebration, if not more, 'cause it's two more than 500 To be honest, when I began podcasting back in twenty-nineteen under the show's old title, the Kintsugi Podcast, I had no idea if I'd get to five hundred.

Actually, I had no idea what I was doing. And when I listen back to those early episodes, it reminds me that old adage that you're probably bad before you get better is pretty spot on. But I kept on going. I took a break during the pandemic, came back, rebranded the show, and made a commitment that I was gonna be the type of person that kept on showing up.

And before I go any further, I want to thank you for showing up or at least listening. Whether you heard one episode or all five hundred and two, thank you for being here. Thank you for listening. Without you, I'm just a dude talking to a microphone all by myself. So it gives me a sense of connection and community to know that you're out there.

The truth is, is that anything that we create, we rarely do anything by ourselves, and I know this to be true. We certainly go far together. So there's another person I wish to thank, and that's Jake, who does the audio for Whole Again. He helps me sound much better than I am, and he's done a whole bunch of the audio polishing on the five hundred and two episodes.

So Jake, thank you for being here and being in my Peloton. Since the twenty-five years since my accident, which sparked all of this, I have followed a few principles, and one being you gotta get to the gym, and you gotta put in the reps if you want change to happen. There are no hacks. There are no shortcuts.

There's no get out of jail free card. Well, unless you're a white dude with a lot of money and connections, then you can get out of jail. But everyone else, there's no get out of jail free card. The reality is, is that if we want things to change, we gotta put in the reps. And since back in the early days of my recovery, I was in corporate America, and corporate America just loves a good acronym.

I turned rep into an acronym. It stands for resilience, that ability to say, "I have fallen down. I've had a setback, but I can get back up again, recover, and move forward." The E is endurance, that I have the capacity to continue And P is persistence. I have the willingness to continue. And what's cooler than a snow cone on a summer's day is this: we can get better at all three of these qualities.

Yes, in different ways, but we can strengthen our ability to be resilient, we can find more capacity to endure, and we can go deeper to find greater reasons to persist. And I've had to tap into all three of these qualities during my whole podcasting journey There are a ton of podcasts out there. Actually, millions of podcasts out there, and very few of them make it to 500.

Probably fewer make it to 502 because they give up for one reason or another. So believe me when I say I am so stoked that we reached 502, but the number that makes me so proud is number one. Because, yes, there are millions of podcasts out there, but there are probably tens of millions of people who talk about doing one, and they never do one.

So the number I cherish most is the number one, starting. And day by day, rep by rep, I've tried to make it better for you. So today, I'm celebrating number one and also 502, and I can't wait to see what the next 502 episodes will bring us. And I'd love your help in shaping those episodes. So I have a quick little survey in the show notes that I hope you'll fill out.

I would love to hear what topics you want to hear more about and, of course, what topics you want to hear less frequently or perhaps not at all and if you'd like me to bring in any guests that you want to hear. I also want to hear your thoughts on the series I did this summer, A Perfectly Imperfect Union, because I'm thinking about making that its own separate podcast.

So thank you again for listening over the last several years and helping us get to 502. This episode also is tip number 40 in my 52 tips that I'm sharing this year as I celebrate 25 years since my last bad day. It's all about getting the reps in at the gym. Resilience, endurance, and persistence. That's how we create change.

That's how we create a meaningful life and step into the people we are becoming.

And next week I'll release new episodes to help you do just that. But until then, let's remember to celebrate our scars as golden symbols of our strength and resilience, and don't forget to have fun storming the castle.

And if you wish to learn more about creating beautiful ripples and how to prevent a bad moment from turning into a bad day, please visit my website, michaelobrienshift.com, and sign up for my newsletter called The Ripple Effect. And join us each Monday, Wednesday, and Friday here at Whole Again, and discover how you can heal, grow, and become more resilient, and celebrate our scars as golden symbols of strength and resilience.

Until then, remember, you can always come back to your breath. You've got this, and we've got you.

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