To have a comeback, you have to have a setback. –Mr. T

During my senior year in college, we would routinely blast The Black Crowes’ “Shake Your Money Maker” album.  And one song in particular, She Talks to Angels, seemed to spin on a perpetual loop.  Back then, the speakers were taller than I was and the neighbors didn’t seem to care.  These go to eleven! 

So we were beside ourselves when we discovered The Black Crowes were coming to the nearby “Dean Dome” as part of a national tour.  We circled the date on the calendar and saved all our beer money.  This was going to be the concert of a lifetime and no sacrifice was too great.  When the day finally arrived, we secured our tickets, filed into the concert, and hunkered down for the greatest show on earth.

But when the curtain finally lifted, our delirium quickly pivoted to dismay.  The lead singer, Chris Robinson, was in a trance. He half-heartedly mumbled his way through a few songs, appeared to fall asleep, and then exited the stage a mere 20 minutes into the show.  There goes our beer money!  No She-Talks-to-Angels magic.  No encore.  In the blink of an eye, it was over.  And that was the end of the story.

Until last week. 

My brother-in-law fortuitously fell into tickets for The Black Crowes and generously invited me along.  Thirty-three years after the biggest concert dud of all time, I was reunited by fate.  Seconds before the lights cut on, I had major trepidation and flashbacks.  I suspected these folks hadn’t aged well, but deep down, I was rooting for them. America loves a good comeback story.

Suddenly, the arena was bathed in white hot light.  And much to our delight, Chris Robinson came strutting out on stage like a young Mick Jagger…and absolutely crushed it!  He spun the microphone, he bonded with the crowd, and he masterfully weaved in old ballads and new.    And just when we thought it couldn’t get any better, The Black Crowes ripped into the greatest version of She Talks to Angels I had ever heard.  It was a revival of EPIC proportions!  And perhaps one of the most unlikely comebacks I had ever witnessed.

And don’t we all strive for a good comeback in our own lives?

Setbacks Are Not a Final Destination

Things don’t always go as planned.  Perhaps we botch an important presentation.  Perhaps we lose our tentpole client.  Perhaps our company folds under the pressure of new competition.  Perhaps we make an error in judgment and lose the respect of our peers.  Perhaps we can’t keep up with the pace of technology and fall behind.  People will pass judgment on us.  People will write us off and give up on us.  It may feel as if these moments will define us.  It may feel as if this is how the story ends.

The reality is no one makes it through this life unscathed.  These low moments, while painful, are just a plot point on a map, and not a final destination.  If we keep the faith, and keep our face pointed toward the sunshine, we will have another opportunity to crush a presentation.  We will earn the business of another client.  We will launch another company stronger than the last.  We will win back the respect of our peers.  We will learn, grow, and reinvent ourselves to match the changing times.  Our setbacks will be merely tragic chapters in the otherwise uplifting novel of our lives!

Resilience is a Mindset

But our comeback may not materialize on the first attempt.  Or the second.  And it won’t happen just by going through the motions.  It will require intentional effort and hard work.  It will require a belief in ourselves even in the face of great outside doubt.  But more than anything it will require a long-term resilient mindset to stick with our gut instincts and stay the course.

We will need people in our corner. We will have to rely on the strength of others during the toughest times.  Resilience is a team sport!  But with the right guidance and the right attitude, we will break through.  We will adapt and overcome.  We will forge our own comeback story!

Thirty-three years ago The Black Crowes played one of the worst concerts I had ever seen.  Last Tuesday, they may have played the best.  Life doesn’t always follow a hockey stick curve up to the right.  There will be stumbling blocks and massive challenges along the way.  That is okay.  We all have an epic comeback story inside of us.   Let’s make the most of it!