'You can do better': comedian, entrepreneur and Las Vegas mainstay

As African-American men, it's time for us to make a move. Think along with me now: "Today is a good day to start changing my life. I will be determined, I will be dedicated and devoted to having a happy life." Why not? Just look around and see how blessed you are. And guess what? My life and your life can be even better.

In his book Your Best Life Now, Pastor Joel Osteen, my good friend and minister, wrote: "Choose to be Happy." (Get the book and read Chapter 7).

It's my job to make a decision. It's a choice I can make. I choose to be happy. Always keep in mind--choosing to be happy has nothing to do with your financial status. Happiness comes from many sources and from all types of people. Remember the old lady or the old man--when you were a kid--who would stop by the house to visit your parents? As he or she entered your home wearing that big smile, it somehow always brightened your home and your heart. Sometimes the happy visitor would have a gift, or even a little piece of change to give you. I'll never forget those moments.

That was yesterday. Now it's my turn to make someone happy today. It's my turn to walk into others' lives, delivering joy, especially now that Father's Day is upon us.

Father's Day! All males 18 and over, it's our time to make someone happy, to bring joy to a person who has been a dad or mentor and/or neighborhood leader to you. If you know such a person, step up to the plate. Do something different.

Today, you will make a choice to be happy simply by making someone else happy. Trust me on this one. Call a man, whether it's your father, your mentor, your minister, your doctor, your teacher(s). Let someone know they're appreciated. Maybe it's your dad's best friend, maybe an uncle, maybe that special person in the neighborhood you don't know, maybe that old gentleman who lives in your apartment complex, maybe your mailman, or maybe that person who helped you fix your car. How about the Brother who made it possible for you to accomplish a certain goal by offering a little financial assistance? Hey, how about the neighborhood wino (who gave his unacknowledged wisdom)? The payback can be a simple "thank you" to someone who pointed you in the right direction, someone who somehow may be responsible, in part, for your success.

Join with me in saying, "I will be determined and dedicated to being a better person and, most of all, a better father." Show some love!

As for me, my Dad passed away when I was in college. I was 18. We never said I love you to each other ... we just knew it. Of all the fathers in the world, I had the best one.

The best advice my Dad gave me was: "Son, learn all you can, and make all the [money] you can."

My gift to my father? Every Father's Day, my father gets more flowers on his grave than any other father in the cemetery. That's because I go to the cemetery around 4 p.m. and take all the flowers off other graves and put them on his. Hell, they won't know ... and neither will he!

HAPPY FATHER'S DAY!

(I'm George Wallace.... "I love you and there is absolutely nothing you can do about it.")

COPYRIGHT 2007 Johnson Publishing Co.
COPYRIGHT 2008 Gale, Cengage Learning