The journey to success is not always roses and rainbows, but on that journey is where you find out you are and what you are made of. I think there are certain things that can help you stay the course while you are on your journey, but you have to be willing to them daily.

I think the greatest creation that God ever made was the human being and I also think he intended for us to work together as a team when needed. Unfortunately, as human beings we are not willing to come together and use our gifts to fix any and every issue the world has presented to us. One of the things I believe in when it comes to being a team is, you have to believe in each other and prove that you can be trusted and that you will be ready to go to war when its time. We can come together as a team and defeat anything, but we have to be willing to come together.

What happens in your mind is what will happen in your life. I believe that the greatest gift gave us was our mind. With our mind we can determine who we are and where we go. The key is, are you willing to hold on to that thought and then go and work for it daily. Even when it requires you to go alone.

Being forgiving allows you to take back the power of others having control over you, your emotions, your feelings and your life. No one deserves to have that kind of power over you. There is power in being willing to forgive someone. Always forgive but never forget.

I think there is a reason God gave us two eyes, two ears and one mouth. He wanted us to listen more, see more and talk less. When you say these simple words "I'm proud of you" you hear that and it means more when you tell yourself that. Often times we will look for others to celebrate us, but I think it's important to celebrate yourself. You deserve to be celebrated, and you don't have to wait for anyone to do that for you.

We are all running a race, but most times we get sidetracked by looking at someone else run. They call it "trying to keep up with the joneses". 6 billion people in the world and no one has your fingerprint. That alone should motivate you to stay in your lane and run your race to victory. God has something special for all of us, but we have to be willing to stay the course and run our own race until we reach our end.

Two small town kids that made it to the highest level of football. They called us the Bamberg bookends at Clemson University. I had the opportunity to interview the other bookend, Da'quan Bowers. Take a listen as he talks about his story on becoming one of the best to ever play the game. Listen as he talks about his family and how playing music was his first love. Bamberg bookends for life.

Gratitude is saying this simple phase, thank you. In a world where we have so many things coming at us from every angle. It's so important to stop and notice what you smell, taste, see and feel. Days are long and years are short and with that so many up and downs come. So, it's important we stop and show some gratitude for everything daily.

Ricky take care of yourself is what I heard God tell me. Self -care is one of the most important things that we can do for ourselves daily. I think it's 3 things that we can do to take care of self. Mentally, physically and spiritually. When you do those things for yourself first, the people that come into your life will act accordingly.

I think the one thing we can all agree on is that, eventually, pain must be felt. Mentally or physically, we will all feel pain. I have been through both and one of the hardest things was to stay positive and believe that it was going to leave and be replaced with something. I think that something depends on our mindset. Thinking positive will always help you stay strong through any pain mentally and physically.