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By Root 1124 0

what he had done. He went out of his way to reach me after the story broke, to apologize. He said he was after some fast money, which the paper made easily available for a few hours of the boy’s time. Christopher, like Tucker, was vulnerable to their offer without realizing the consequences of his actions. I am a man who stands for second chances, and I was willing to forgive Christopher for his lack of judgment. Having a relationship with my son was more important to me than holding a grudge. That is why I asked him to be on the show with me that night.

After the Larry King interview, a poll revealed that 82 percent of Larry King’s viewers said they didn’t think my show should be taken off the air. That was a pretty big number of supporters, and it should have made me feel better about things, but it didn’t. Even though it was a tremendous display of mercy, there were still 18 percent of his viewers who thought what I did made me a racist and I deserved to pay for it. I figured there was a small percentage of those people who had hated me to begin with. Yet for the 1, 2, or 3 percent of people who thought what I did was reprehensible, but whose minds I could still change, I needed to find a way to spread the word that Dog is a good man, a righteous man of principle, and someone who chooses to lead his life by example and not just words.

At the end of the interview, a young woman appeared via video clip urging me to never give up. She said, “Sometimes heroes make mistakes.” And she was right. We are all just human beings who will, from time to time, stumble along the path of life. It is up to the hero that lives inside each and every one of us to turn our tests into testimony and our mess into messages. The message I was receiving was loud and clear: Don’t give up.

After I taped Larry King, I bumped into Patti LaBelle in the lobby of the Four Seasons Hotel. We said hello and talked for a few minutes. She wrapped her arm around my elbow and said, “Let’s walk into the bar together, Dog! I’d be proud to have people see you on my arm.” Beth and I also ran into LL Cool J a couple of nights later and he was equally kind.

I’ve always been a controversial figure. The things that would destroy a weaker man make me stronger. Through years of challenges, I’ve learned to successfully turn my adversity into opportunity.

My barber’s husband gave me some memorable advice a day or two after the story broke. He said, “Duane, the higher you go up the ladder in life, the more of your ass that shows. One mistake can ruin a thousand attaboys.” This guy is a retired military man and married to a beautiful black woman. Throughout his military career, he was beaten down a thousand times only to be built back up stronger, smarter, and better than he was before. His brain was trained to get out there and throw his best at whatever life brought his way. I asked him for his advice on how to make things right. His answer was simple yet powerful.

“Get out there and get me another thousand attaboys.” So far I’m at 398, but counting every single day.

When I was a young boy, I heard a quote by Jack Dempsey that I never forgot. I’ve since put my own twist on it and turned it into one of my new favorite Dogisms:

“Champions get knocked down, but they always get back up!”

Whenever I’ve asked God why something is happening in my life, His answer has always been the same: “I know you can do this, Dog.” It is with that knowledge that I am able to take an absolute leap of faith, even if I don’t know what lies ahead for me. I have the strength to move ahead and the belief that I can conquer anything, and that I always land on my feet.

So much of my training with Tony Robbins focused on how the mind perceives things. We only know life’s ups and downs by how we represent them to ourselves. If we have a negative image of something, it can become larger than life and seem impossible to overcome. That negative thought can virtually paralyze us from moving past it.

On the other hand, if we take that same negative image and minimize it, then we are able to put