Episode Details

Lemons. Bittersweet. Tart. Some would say a perfect sum of life’s attributes, a perfect portrayal of life’s moments. Whether we choose to see these lemons as bad moments or as new opportunities to “squeeze the zest” from life it depends solely on ourselves. The choice is ours to believe that beauty exists in everything, even in our setbacks.

So, I encourage you to prevail, to accept the wonderful growth that can spark from every grieving process, to “turn lemons into lemonade” if you like, and to set your mind to acknowledge that, moments happen for us, not to us and we can make things work for us, not against us.

When a door closes another one opens. As we decide the faith of our Pause Breathe Reflect Tour,  our community gets another opportunity to raise awareness over the importance of mental health and takes another step in achieving its goal- to become a symbol of mindfulness.

Key points:

• A little bit of context (01:18)
• An overall win (04:38)
• New opportunities (05:59)
• Lessons… (06:55)
• National Mental Health Awareness Month (09:50)
• It’s ok not to be ok (11:25)
• Help eliminate stigma (12:23)

If this episode sparked something within you, please download it and share it with a friend. 

Kintsugi is the Japanese art of repairing broken pottery with gold, silver, or lacquer, highlighting the cracks rather than hiding them. It embodies the philosophy of wabi-sabi, which finds beauty in imperfection and teaches that breakage and repair are part of an object’s history, making it more valuable rather than less. Metaphorically, Kintsugi reminds us that our challenges, scars, and setbacks are not something to be ashamed of but can be embraced as a source of strength and transformation.

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Let's celebrate our scars as golden symbols of resilience and strength. 

My name is Michael. I'm a husband, father, son, and friend. I'm also an executive coach, speaker, and meditation teacher, and I help people prevent a bad moment from turning into a bad day and help them heal, grow, and develop more resilience. 

I'm not a doctor or therapist. But I have been through the “ringer,” as they say. I was involved in a cycling accident, and my trauma team doesn’t know how I survived. Along the way, I’ve tried it all to heal and in my podcast, I share what I’ve learned in hopes that something might help you. Plus, I want to create a connection with you so you’re not alone in your journey. You’ve got this!

If you feel you need more mental health support, please contact NAMI. This is a good place to start. If you have a question or comment, please reach out to Michael@PauseBreatheReflect.com. 

With Whole A