What started as a backup recording—kids home sick, guest rescheduled—became one of the most vulnerable and honest conversations we’ve had. Beginning with Dennis Prager’s Happiness Is a Serious Problem, Brenton and Teri explore what it actually means to choose happiness, the expectations that quietly sabotage our emotional lives, and how gratitude anchors us in meaning.

The conversation quickly turns personal as Teri opens up about their family’s journey through three miscarriages. Together they wrestle with the tension between grief and joy, loss and faith, and the slow, disciplined work of rebuilding hope while carrying pain.

This episode is a look at happiness not as positivity, but as responsibility, perspective, and resilience.

Teri Peck is a homeschool mom, martial artist, and steady voice of faith, discipline, and emotional honesty. She brings a deep perspective on motherhood, loss, and the quiet habits that shape family identity. Her reflections help bridge the space between spiritual maturity and the very real experiences of grief, resilience, and hope. 

• Is happiness a choice—or something more complex?

• Why gratitude is foundational to real joy

• How dissatisfaction can fuel growth without destroying happiness

• The “missing tile” mindset and where it misleads us

• Expectations and the sabotage of emotional resilience

• The difference between fun and happiness

• Why victimhood feels easy but traps us

• The emotional and spiritual reality of miscarriage

• Holding grief and gratitude at the same time

• Rebuilding meaning after loss

• Discipline & Mastery

• Faith & Formation

• Family, Fatherhood & Legacy

• Redemption & Integration

• Responsibility & Becoming

• Story & Identity

• Suffering & Meaning