Follow “Bacon Bits with Master Happiness” on Apple Podcast, Spotify, Google Podcast, or wherever you listen to your favorite podcasts. Are we willing to give our kids their independence? Are we willing to fight for ours? Whether we are a parent, child, in a relationship, ora member of a team, sometimes we must choose between dependency, independence, or somewhere in between. The scariest thing about being independent is that you no longer have anyone to blame but yourself. It

Follow “Bacon Bits with Master Happiness” on Apple Podcast, Spotify, Google Podcast, or wherever you listen to your favorite podcasts. There are two sides to every coin and two sides to every person. Part of us wants to learn, grow, and keep evolving, and part of us doesn’t. The Growth Mindset was coined by Stanford Psychologist #CarolDweck. She explains how everyone leans a little more in one direction or the other. And that no one is 100% one way or the other. In other word

Follow “Bacon Bits with Master Happiness” on Apple Podcast, Spotify, Google Podcast, or wherever you listen to your favorite podcasts. There is a feeling of safety, traveling in the crowd. We are social animals and desire to be part of tribe, a group, and a community. So, following the pack is often the right decision. But not understanding the goals of the crowd and following blindly is when problems can occur. Imagine trying to run a company, a community, or a family where

I grew up swimming and surrounded by swimmers. Art, my oldest brother, was on the swim team and my youngest brother, Fireman Joe, jumps out of helicopters to save people in the water and under the ice. My oldest daughter, Katie, was a Water Polo Player, and Lauren, my youngest, is the absolute best at the backstroke. My fearless family has always just jumped right in. For me, it took a little longer. I tended to think it through first; overthink it, to be honest. Once I was i

Follow “Bacon Bits with Master Happiness” on Apple Podcast, Spotify, Google Podcast, or wherever you listen to your favorite podcasts. It seems that some people are never happy. They live with a permanent dark cloud over their head. They not only believe that the glass is half full, but they believe that the water in the glass is probably no good either. There are a number of reasons why people lean towards doom and gloom. It could be out of comfort, fear, or guilt. Maybe the

Follow “Bacon Bits with Master Happiness” on Apple Podcast, Spotify, Google Podcast, or wherever you listen to your favorite podcasts. Part of life is dealing with feeling the sting of rejection over and over again. From your parents telling you, “No more Ice Cream!” to Jenny saying, “No Way!” at the High School Dance. From seeing them shake their heads at an important interview to hearing them laugh at your big idea. There is no end to reasons why, and opportunities to, and

“Look Mom, it’s a bird; I can make a dog too!” “But I can’t make a cat.” My Mother sighed, “Stop making those silly finger shadows. I want you to sit silently in that corner. You are being punished.” (You’re in a timeout!) That corner was an all too familiar place for me as I was growing up. It seemed like I was always being told to sit still, be quiet, and grow up. The kitchen light created a shadow of me on the wall and I would sit and stare at him. My shadow didn’t make an

Follow “Bacon Bits with Master Happiness” on Apple Podcast, Spotify, Google Podcast, or wherever you listen to your favorite podcasts. We will always disagree with and question someone’s thoughts and actions when they don’t align perfectly with ours. That seems perfectly natural, expected, and understood. What is difficult to understand is how some people will not change their mind even after receiving compelling information or evidence that is contrary to their original thou

In 1958, the Hula Hoop® was introduced to the world by Wham-O, makers of the Frisbee®, Slip ‘N Slide®, and the Super-Duper Ball. That is over 60 years ago. And you can still pick up one of these plastic ring-things or at least a knock-off brand at almost any store around you. When the Hula Hoop® first came out it was considered a fad. One of those silly things that wouldn’t catch on and certainly couldn’t last. And those critics were half right. Sales did drop off quickly aft

Follow “Bacon Bits with Master Happiness” on Apple Podcast, Spotify, Google Podcast, or wherever you listen to your favorite podcasts. Our business, social, and romantic interactions thrive on communication. It is the key to strong and long-lasting relationships. We must be clear speakers and caring listeners if we want these relationships to work. It can be frustrating to feel as if you cannot convey our ideas and thoughts. Is it the way that I'm speaking, the way that you'r

Follow “Bacon Bits with Master Happiness” on Apple Podcast, Spotify, Google Podcast, or wherever you listen to your favorite podcasts. Each family, company, and group with a common goal can be considered a team. There are multiple players, positions, or roles in each team. When they can identify, understand, and support each other they can be unstoppable. Since the dawn of man, we have realized that we can usually get more done together than going it alone. We look for like-m

Follow “Bacon Bits with Master Happiness” on Apple Podcast, Spotify, Google Podcast, or wherever you listen to your favorite podcasts. This was a tough show. maybe my favorite. We’re all going to die. We don’t really want to talk about it, we don’t even want to think about it. But it is inevitable and it’s also scary. Everyone around us is going to die eventually. We don’t know when, we just know that death is coming. What makes death so scary is that we don’t know for sure w

Follow “Bacon Bits with Master Happiness” on Apple Podcast, Spotify, Google Podcast, or wherever you listen to your favorite podcasts. It's human nature to get angry. It is a sign that something is wrong. It is often a reaction to fear, being hurt, or feeling threatened. When we feel like things are out of our control and are not going the way that we want or have anticipated, we become annoyed. If this feeling is not addresses in some manner, it can build into frustration. L

Follow “Bacon Bits with Master Happiness” on Apple Podcast, Spotify, Google Podcast, or wherever you listen to your favorite podcasts. Last week we talked about facing change and how it can be difficult. It is even more difficult when you have an unsupportive partner. You should be able to share all your goals and dreams in a non-judgmental environment within every relationship. This is true in all relationships, parent and child, siblings and friends, business and romantic.

Follow “Bacon Bits with Master Happiness” on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Google Podcasts or wherever you listen to your favorite podcasts. Sometimes we look for change, other times change sneaks up on us or is thrust upon us. We prefer routine, we like things just the way they are. We are creature of habit. We lose old friends and gain new ones. Flowers grow, die, and different ones emerge. Technology advances faster than we can keep up with it. Jobs come and go. Shoes wear out.

James and Melisa are about to celebrate their 60th Wedding Anniversary. He is 82, and she is 78. They don’t have any children, just an old basset hound named George. They love to travel and spend time with friends. Recently, they have decided to divorce. They are calling it irreconcilable differences. They are no longer happy or feel fulfilled with each other. Everyone is surprised and no one saw this coming. It’s a sad story because we can picture our own relationships or ma

Follow “Bacon Bits with Master Happiness” on Apple Podcast, Spotify, Google Podcast, or wherever you listen to your favorite podcasts. We’ve all got ideas, thoughts, and dreams. But we don’t always have someone who is interested in listening to them. It can be gut-wrenching, when we start to share our story and watch our audience look away. Are they distracted, am I failing to keep their attention, or, EEK, am I just boring? Most people want to connect with other people that

We apologize for the little oops in the middle of this recording. We went on vacation in the middle of the show. There are over 1200 cities (municipalities) in Illinois. There are 50 states in this country and almost 200 countries on this planet. There are things to see, places to go, and people to meet. Sure, you could read about all these places but there is nothing quite like visiting them in person. We were born to be explorers, discover new lands, and learn from the peop

How can a number so small be so infinite? The ratio of the circumference of a circle to its diameter, Pi is constant and never ending. It is beautiful in its simplicity and breathtaking in its complexity. Plus, it's a tasty treat. Cream, Fruit, Custard, or Savory, PIE offers us a hidden secret that never disappoints. But there is a third PIE and that is the PIE of communication. And we’ll be talking about all 3.14 of them! B – Birthday of Albert Einstein and and Death of Step

Listen to the whole show on Apple Podcasts - Spotify - Google Podcast What will the future hold for me? Have I planned enough? Have I done the right things? What lurks around the corner? The thought of what could be in the future can be terrifying. No matter how prepared we are, we’ll never really know what will happen until it does. Let’s talk about the comfort in living with the unknown and face our ANXIETY with Bacon. B - Be in the NOW! (Am I safe now?) “The past is Histor