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 if America’s next 250 years depend less on politics and more on curiosity, kindness, and the small sacrifices we make for each other every day?

As division, noise, and constant judgment continue to shape modern life, this heartfelt conversation invites listeners to slow down and reconnect with what truly matters.

Michael sits down with entrepreneur, cyclist, and Indiana native Steven Hershberger to reflect on sacrifice, stewardship, empathy, and the enduring optimism woven into the American spirit. Through stories of farmers before sunrise, small-town kindness, and lessons learned at life’s edge, this episode reminds us that healing begins in the everyday moments most people overlook.

• Listeners will gain a refreshing perspective on how curiosity and empathy can help bridge division and strengthen human connection.
• You’ll discover why small acts of kindness and personal sacrifice create meaningful ripple effects in communities and relationships.
• This episode also offers a powerful reminder that resilience, gratitude, and purpose are built through daily choices, not grand gestures.

Tune in now to reconnect with what unites us, explore how small conversations can create powerful change, and meet Steven Hershberger.

To connect and discover more about Steven you can find him on LinkedIn and Legacy Market Farms.

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With Whole Again: Mindfulness and Resilience through Kintsugi Wisdom, listeners explore mindfulness and resilience through personal stories of trauma, scars, and injury while learning to overcome, imposter syndrome, self-doubt, and perfectionism with self-compassion, self-love, and self-worth. Through insightful discussions on building resilience, fitness, and stress management, as well as mindfulness practices and digital wellness, the show offers practical tools such as breathwork, micro-dose meditation, grounding techniques, visualization, and daily affirmations for anxiety relief and stress reduction. Inspired by the art of kintsugi, the podcast embodies healing as a transformative process, encouraging a shift in perspective from worry and overwhelm to gratitude and personal growth. By exploring the mind-body connection, micro-dosing strategies for emotional well-being, and

 Hey there, it's Michael. Welcome to Whole Again, the show that's here in support of you creating a meaningful life and the person you're becoming. And I'm excited to share a new series with you that will air this summer as America turns 250 years old, which is still pretty young relative to many other countries across this big blue marble that we all share.

Hurting from things that had happened prior to the pandemic, of course, going through what we all went through. And at that time, and this is something I still believe today, is that we were entering an inflection point. An inflection point for us to hopefully pause, breathe, and reflect on who we wish to become as individuals, as communities, and as a country.

As I pedaled across America, I wanted to share America's beauty with others, her natural beauty and the beauty of her people. And I also wanted to share where we were hurting. As America turns 250, I believe Kintsugi, which is something we use as a metaphor here at Whole Again, is a perfect metaphor for where we are as a country.

There's so much beauty to celebrate, and we can also acknowledge that parts of us feel broken or are broken, but we can find a way to come back together, just like Kintsugi teaches us. And when we do, we don't try to erase or cover up where we have scars or blemishes. We highlight them in gold, and we celebrate them as symbols of our strength and resilience.

Kintsugi is called the golden repair and, in essence, we can see beauty in something that's perfectly imperfect During this series, I plan to speak to at least two people in each state and the District of Columbia. So 102 conversations with real folk, as I like to say. We're gonna let the celebrities and the big influencers have their day somewhere else, but here I wanna reach out and talk to real people and listen to their reflections as they think about America turning 250 years old.

And my hope is, is that you'll tune in to at least one, if not all 102, 'cause my theory going into this is that you'll hear different perspectives. Some may be aligned with yours, others may not. But my hope is that you hear the goodness in your fellow citizens and realize, as Maya Angelou shared with us, "We are more alike, my friends, than we are unalike."

We are more alike, my friends, than we are unalike. I've had the privilege of traveling all over the world and all over this country, and this belief is something that I hold deep inside of me. So yes, I do believe that we are more alike, my friends, than we are unalike. So if you're ready to meet one of your fellow neighbors, take a healthy breath in and a slow releasing breath out and get to know Steve Hershberger.

Steve, my friend, happy Friday. Good to see you, man. Thanks for being here.

Yeah. Are you kidding? It's always good to see you. Always good to see your smiling face, and it's always smiling.

I, I, well, you know, I try to bring the joy and happiness. You know, it's... We've been through a lot, you know, in our own ways, so every day we get to stand on solid ground is a good day.

Indeed.

So-

Indeed ...

a, a reason to smile. So for those that don't know you, who the hell are you and where do you hail from?

Man, oh, we're starting out with metaphysical questions. Who am I? Uh, well,

you know, you know Yeah, who... Yeah, that's a big one. It, it's, it's a short conversation though, Steve, so we can only go so deep, right?

Um,

I, I'm, I'm, I'm just another middle-aged cyclist who, uh, has found himself over the course of his adult career to, uh, to, uh, to be unemployable. Um, so- ... so I, uh, I am an entrepreneur at heart, and I've had a couple of different businesses, and I, I'm in my, my, uh, my next one right now. So I, I've been in the, the...

I started my career in the alcohol business, uh, my, uh, and then now I'm in the food business. So I, I find myself, um, up on farms a lot, like, uh, uh, like very early, early this morning. So, um-

Yeah ...

a- and I've been married for 31 years. I've got, uh, a wonderful wife who's the better half of me. Uh, I've got, uh, two adult children, one in New York City, another one in, in college in Williamsburg, Virginia, and I'm just like everybody else trying to figure it all out, man.

Yeah, absolutely. So you, uh, you're in Indiana, the crossroads of America.

Crossroads of America. I was born in Indiana, and I grew up in Lexington, Kentucky, and then went to college in Michigan to get rid of my accent, and, uh, went out west for a bit to the, to the far left coast and, and did a stint there with a tech company, and then moved back to Indiana, and between, uh, spending a lot of time in Vermont.

Be- between Indiana and Vermont, those, those t- kind of two places are what we call home.

Very cool. You're an Indiana boomerang. So for those that have just simply flown over Indiana and not really visited Indiana, what's something that's cool about Indiana that, you know, people who haven't been there wouldn't know about?

Oh, uh, I think, uh, two things. Number one, um, the town that I live in is a town called Carmel, Indiana, and we have more roundabouts than any other city in the world.

Oh, wow, that's a fun fact. That's-

It is ... wow. We, we have only stop signs. We have no stop signs, and the interesting f- the, one of the interesting factoid is that the first stop s- or stoplight in America was in our town, and now we have none.

Wow.

So, um, yeah. So, so that's one interesting fact about where I live. The other interesting fact is, um, you know, I've lived here since mid-'90s, and I've never had a house key.

That's some trust right there. That's pretty cool.

Trust in the universe. But, you know, what we find is, uh, the people in, in this part of the world, um, w- s- some are a lot alike, some are very, very different.

Um, but eight out of 10 of them are just solid, good people that will, uh, will help you if, if you give them a look in the eye and a smile

Yeah, absolutely. I, I agree. That's what I found when I cycled across America. There's a story I'll save for another day in, like, Rushville, Indiana.

Yeah.

That was a great, a great, great moment.

So, uh- Yeah.

No, my, uh, I, I'm f- quite familiar with Rushville. I, um, uh, one of my gravel bikes is, is fabricated in Rushville, Indiana.

Oh, wow, how about that? Yeah. Yeah. So, uh, I, I, I spend a nice morning at the Moose Cafe & Antiques, so, uh, good stuff, good stuff. So- Been there

many times ...

so l- let's just say you're at the Moose Cafe & Antiques.

You're with your buddies, your cycling buddies, your family, your friends, and then they ask you, "Hey S- hey Steve, what does America mean to you?" How do you respond?

It means a couple of things. The, the f- the first and foremost thing that it means is we have the wonderful opportunity to explore a land that is broad and diverse in both its, um, geographic, uh, uh, elements and then the cultural elements that, that you find.

And the thing that, you know, you and I both spend a lot of time on, on bikes, and so we, we go to, many times, places people don't otherwise have the, the great opportunity to experience. And what Am- uh, America h- has come to mean to me, especially more recently, is the, the value of that diversity and the, the value of, of, of exploration, uh, and of curiosity.

Uh, and also that we find ourselves in a place where hard work does pay off. It really does. Yeah, you know, Michael, I was up very, very early this morning, and I was, I was driving up to one of our, you know, facilities where... I- I'm in the, the beef business now, so protein. And I was, um, I was driving through middle of n- northern Indiana, and the mist was, was heavy on the ground.

The, the sun wasn't up yet, and the, the peaks were just coming over the f- the far horizon in-

Mm ...

34 different colors. And the, um, and I look off to the left, and off in the distance is, uh, a farmer who, you know, he has all of his lights on on his, on his, on his giant tractor and, and he's laying, um, fertilizer and pre-emergent down.

And th- that person is sacrificing his time, um, to put the effort in in order to grow a product that makes its way to grocery stores that people put in their carts and take home and they don't think about where those things come from and the sacrifices that others make to allow us to live the lives we want, right?

So a farmer's just one example. You think of military, you think of police, you think I have a good friend who is a retired fireman and I've heard the stories of him rushing into buildings and in one case having a roof that was on fire, a series of trusses that were on fire collapse on him as he's trying to find somebody or EMTs or people that moms that have worked second jobs, people that work second and third jobs to improve the lives of their children, right?

That's been going on in this country for generations.

Yeah, from the moment we people landed into this country and then even for the people that were here originally, right? That's, you know, from the indigenous people, they have a whole concept of the impact one makes today on seven generations in the future.

A tornado hits a town, right? And people band together and they help each other and they lift themselves and each other up. That's the sacrifice that we all make. We also live in a country that where we are not repressed or constrained. We're not told what we can and can't do for a living. We're not selected to say you get to go to the upper school and you don't.

You must live here. You can't live there. We don't have bombs falling on us 24 hours a day. We have an overabundance of food and products and luxury, right? That's in the world of, that's a scarcity.

Yeah.

And so I keep thinking about what is the sacrifice, what little sacrifice is each of us willing to commit to to improve ourselves or our lives?

And, you know, again, a good example is I made a sacrifice this morning. Uh, I got up extra early, right, to do what I did because the sacrifice was I'm gonna sacrifice an extra hour of sleep because I wanted to go and see that sunrise. That's a small thing, but that's a sacrifice. Another sacrifice is, you know, stopping when you're running into the grocery store to hold the door open for somebody, you know?

So those are things that, you know, when I think about America-

Yeah ...

it's the little things that come to mind.

Yeah. Thanks for sharing. Those micro moments, uh, matter. You collect a, you collect a bunch of those, it makes a, it makes a difference. So, you know, uh, we- Yeah ... um, as you know, I use the, uh, Japanese art form of Kintsugi as a metaphor for whole again and just the series, that perfectly imperfect, uh, union.

Yeah.

So when you think about America and what she can become, uh, knowing that we, most people would say there's different perspectives on how far, how far we're divided. Um, so but most people would say we're, we're not connected, we are divided. So if you could repair, uh, something, m- maybe not in a perfect way, but you would take a step towards helping the country come together, repair, heal, whatever verb you wanna use, uh, what would it be?

It

would be, uh, it would be two things. It would be take a moment, just pause for a moment-

Mm ...

and be curious. Just pause for a moment, don't think.

Yeah.

Listen, and just be curious. Ask why more. Somebody disagrees with you, ask why. And I guess maybe another thing is offer a little bit less judgment and more empathy.

Mm. Somebody cuts you off, uh, in traffic, the lanes merge together, we've all had this happen, the person speeds up, they won't let you in.

Yes.

They don't wanna look at you. Um, don't judge, right? Yeah. It, l- let it go. Um, it's- It's not worth burning calories

over that, so.

Well, no. And does it... If you think about what really matters, I mean, Mi- Michael, you and I have both been left for dead.

Yeah.

We've, we've had our... The lessons are loudest at the edge. And, and so when, when you find yourself immersed in minutia, you know, it's always best to go back and, and think about a bigger picture because, you know, kindness does matter, and it's infect- it's in- it's, it's infectious.

Yeah. It, it creates, it creates a positive ripple and we Uh, we need more kindness in the world, no doubt.

So, so when it comes to a birthday, it's not a birthday without some birthday cake. So two-part question, what kind of cake are you serving for America's 250th? And of course, with a cake you gotta blow out the candles. So as you're blowing out the candles, what do you wish for, for America?

The birthday cake, um, I would, I would...

I ha- I gotta go with red velvet.

Red velvet. All right. Nice. You're my first red velvet reference or mention, so, uh, bravo.

Gotta go with red velvet. Uh, and, and the wish for America would be that our first 250 years were practice, and the next 250 years, um, I, I wish, I wish that we can learn from our practice and put it into play with stronger principles and conviction, knowing how delicate our democracy and our freedoms and the luxuries that we, uh, uh, enjoy are.

You know, when, when bad things happen and you get hit and you're lying there and you're, you- you're like, "I don't know if I'm gonna live or not," uh, all of a sudden everything changes 'cause it's, it's that fragile, right? If... So we, we, we need to recognize that we're all in this together, right? We're all Americans.

We all have something s- of value to add to each other. Um, so I wish the next 250 years are twice as good as the first, and I wish for all of us to enjoy peace, prosperity, and, uh, and to take a moment, be mindful, and to move forward with each other in kindness.

I like that. That's a good wish, man, and a good cake.

So last time I chatted with one of our fellow citizens, Shane from Pennsylvania, she has, uh, this question she's serving up to you, and once you get done answering it, you get to serve up a question to another fellow citizen. So her question was really around stewardship of the opportunities you've been given.

So I think the quote is, uh, "Too much that has been given, much is expected." So you, you, you have referenced in our conversation, like, the opportunities and, uh, s- some of the, the great benefits and privilege of being in this country and how abundant it is. So when you think about your own stewardship of the opportunities you've been given, how, how are you, you using them, if you will?

Honestly, this is an easy one, Michael. This is an easy one, and the, the answer for me is very, very simple. Um, it is be true to who you are. Be, be true to who you are. Live your life in a way that is purposeful and aligned with your values.

Mm.

Don't shrink from them. Don't hide them. People may not like them.

But don't let anyone change who you fundamentally are.

Sage advice. That's good. I like that. What question do you wish to ask the next person I speak with?

Well, I would, uh, I would ask the next person that you speak with to define what they w- they wish their legacy to be as they move forward through their life, and how do they go about living that on a daily basis?

Very cool. Thanks for joining me, m- man, on this series as we celebrate America and reflect on her. Love you, brother. So again, thanks for being here.

Always love you, man. You're, you're a joy, a, a bright spot in my life. I'm so glad to know you.

Yeah. Peace.

Peace. Cheers.

I really appreciate Steve's perspective and his wish. The first 250 years was practice, a little training, and now in the next 250 years, it's time to apply our knowledge, which I will say that is awesome sauce. Of course, I think we all know that if we really want to come together, it will take more than just wishing.

It will take action, and maybe that action starts with a conversation, a conversation that allows us to be fully seen, heard, and appreciated, or I would say loved, one human to another, even if we don't see the world the same way. I believe that 97% of people are good. There's a like-heartedness in that goodness, and if we lead with our heart, we can be open to different mindedness.

That's how we can come together and form a more perfectly imperfect union. If today's conversation resonated with you, I hope you'll share it with someone you know. And if either you or someone you know would like to join me for a conversation, please reach out And until our next episode in our Perfectly Imperfect Union series, let's remember to celebrate our scars as golden symbols of our strength and resilience.

Happy birthday, America. 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, michaelobryanshift.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.