The Real Comebacks

There’s something about a comeback that grabs our attention and stokes our imagination. Watching someone climb their way out of hardship, disappointment, and failure and making their way back to a place of success and achievement tugs at the heartstrings of all of us.

This past weekend, I was glued to the TV as I watched Tiger Woods win the Masters golf tournament. If you don’t know much about golf, the Masters is arguably the most sought after prize in the world of professional golf. It’s the first of golf’s four major tournaments, and the very best players from around the world compete for the right to don the Green Jacket—the prize given to the winner.

Tiger Woods had been at the top of the golfing world for years, winning 14 majors and 80 PGA tournaments in total. A remarkable number.

But then the injuries started to pile up. His game began to fall off.

He slipped down the rankings in the golf world and pulled out of tournaments. He missed almost the entire golf season in 2017.

He went through surgeries on his knee and his back and was left with considerable pain he had to endure daily. Two years ago, he wondered aloud if he’d ever be able to play golf again.

It wasn’t only Tiger’s body that was falling apart. He hit a personal low in 2009 when it was revealed that he was struggling with sex addiction. His lifestyle destroyed his marriage. Sponsors dropped him and his brand tanked.

But Tiger kept fighting. He underwent a fourth back surgery in 2017 and started the long, slow climb back.

He started playing again in 2018 and by September that year, he won his first tournament in over five years. This set up the drama that unfolded at the Masters on the weekend.

During the final round, the crowds roared every time Tiger made a shot. He started the day two strokes behind the leader, but by hole 12, he was tied for the lead.

By the time he walked up the fairway at the 18th, he had a two-stroke lead. When he sank his final putt, the massive gallery roared “Tiger! Tiger! Tiger!” as he raised his arms in victory.

As he walked off the green, his young son came running up to him, and the two embraced. It was one of the most emotional sports moments I have ever witnessed. Tiger was back.

But that’s sports. Being a professional athlete who makes millions of dollars a year and is on top of the world isn’t something the vast majority of us can relate to personally.

All of us can relate, though, to people who’ve hit bottom in their personal lives and, through hard work and reaching out and asking for help, have made their own comebacks.

I’ve had the privilege of sitting in on one-year “cake” celebrations for people in various 12-step programs. To me, there’s nothing more special than seeing someone receive a one-year, clean-time token from Alcoholics or Narcotics Anonymous.

I’ve seen men who cleaned up their lives and became productive members of society. One man in particular had been addicted to drugs and lived life on the streets and spent time in jail. When he came up to get his one-year token, he cried like a baby. Afterward, he recounted what his life was like before and what it was like after he got into NA and cleaned up.

I’ve seen the pain and shame of young women who have had their children taken from them by BC’s Ministry of Children & Family Development because they were so strung out on drugs they couldn’t safely take care of them. And then later I’ve seen these same young women work hard to clean up their lives and turn things around. Eventually, they got their children back, and they became the best mom’s possible.

I celebrate with them every step of their journey. When one of these women comes forward to take their one-year token, there’s not a dry eye in the room.

I’ve seen people get their tokens and their entire family is there to see it: mom, dad, brothers, sisters, uncles, aunts, and grandparents. I’ve seen people whose marriages were on the brink because of drugs. One man came forward to get his one-year token, and waiting for him at the front of the room to give him a hug and place the token in his hand was his wife.

These are the real comebacks. They’re more impressive than what Tiger Woods just accomplished. These are everyday, ordinary people who’ve hit bottom, who’ve made the near impossible decision to keep going, to fight and make a comeback—without millions of people cheering them on, chanting their name.

These are the comebacks that inspire me to keep moving forward, to grow and become the best version of myself possible. These are the fighters I look up to: the real tigers that I’ve been lucky to know.