

The Chain Gang
Growing up in the 50’s and 60’s in rural north Florida, I saw things that we wouldn’t see today. One common sight on Hwy 301 in front of our restaurant was the chain gang - prisoners who were actually chained to each other doing work along the roadside. Being chained together pretty much eliminated the possibility of the prisoners escaping. But even so, there was always a guard nearby armed with a double barrel shotgun, and of course, who wore reflective sunglasses. Back in t


The Ring - Part 4, Believe
The fourth of the letter on my ring is ‘B’ for BELIEVE. We can have a dream, make a plan and act to make it a reality. But, when times get tough, belief is the guiding light that will fuel us on and get us through. If you’ve ever put a project together or started businesses, you probably have had an endeavor that needed a lot of belief!! For me, it was my market in Macon, GA. After five years in operation, it was struggling financially. If we took in enough to cover operating
The Ring - Part 3, Plan
It was in the Spring of 1984 and I was about to board a plane at the Asheville, NC airport to fly back to Florida where I was going purchase a tract of land to build a flea market. I had built one on my family’s old farm in Waldo, FL a few years earlier and was now ready to build another. Just prior to boarding, I bought a local newspaper to read on the plane ride. As the plane was landing in Charlotte where I would catch the next ‘leg’ of the flight, I noticed an advertiseme
The Ring - Part 2, Plan
Last week we talked about the first letter of the four letters of success which are represented on my ring. The first letter is D for Dream. Once you have a dream, the next step is to figure out a way to make that dream a reality. That leads to the second letter on my ring, which is P for Plan. Once my dream is fully formed, I start developing a ‘PLAN.’ My first step is to visualize what the ultimate desired result will look like and then begin ‘POSSIBILITY’ thinking. I