Develop the habit of remembering. Always remember you did not get where you are by yourself. It’s funny in life how when someone has made a mess of their life it is always everyone else’s fault. When someone has done great, they are always saying “Look at me and what I have done.”

Really, it wasn’t my good luck, my good looks or hard work that made me successful, it was the good favor of God. Yes, God put some great people in front of you along the way. Maybe it was a good teacher like Henry Neal. He was a teacher that believed in me and even helped me fill out my college papers.

My dad, who I called pop, taught me to never give up. He said that you must give 100 percent with a great attitude with everything. My mom taught me to love flowers and never miss the opportunity to share them. My children taught me that God has blessed me beyond my dreams with their smiles. My dare to you is to take a moment and think about all the people that have given you that little push when you needed it, or told you that you could do better and you believed them. I remember Robert Taylor. When we were kids riding horses, one of the kids we were riding with got thrown from the horse. He picked him up, put him back on the horse, and I will never forget what he said, “Hold on tight, son, and the horse will not throw you again.”

The kid did not get thrown again. I remember Will Oubre showing me how to put my thumb out on the hammer and drive the nail straight every time.

I saw him last week and when I reminded him of that he just laughed and said, “Worked every time,” then he laughed again.

After you think of some of these people give them a call and tell them “Thank You.” May God bless, and he will.