The Gift of Knowing I'm Never Too Far Down

​The world wants us to believe the secret to a happy life - the content life - is the path of least resistance. The commercial world is built on convincing us there is always an easier path and it's THEIR products or hacks that will make it so.

Me, though, through years of traveling paths of GREAT resistance, I've discovered the best life hack is mastering the comeback.

The secret to a content life isn't magic dust sprinkled on your lifeless knocked down body; it's quite simply the capacity and willingness to get back up.

Sure, there are a lot of things that can help us with that: Faith. Friends. Good counselors. Books. Exercise. Sleep. Coffee..... Lots of things can help with getting back up. But none of them make the decision to get back up for us.

The New York Knicks just won the 2026 NBA title. They did so by overcoming double digit deficits in every game they won. To include an NBA finals record 29 point comeback in game 4.

I have never been 29 points down in an NBA finals game. Being 5'9" tall protects you from that.

But I have been 29 points down in life.

Traumas. Divorce. Financial burdens. Addictions. Career shifts.

I have been down. But I've built a mindset that never lets me believe I'm too far down.

The Spurs, no matter how far ahead of the Knicks they got on the scoreboard, had to constantly feel like the Knicks were right behind them. Because the Knicks WERE constantly right behind them. When you know you're never too far down to get back up, you don't listen to the scoreboard. You make sure your opponent always knows the object in their rear view mirror is much closer than it appears!!

The Knicks are a reminder to all of us that, yes, it helps to be good at life. But maybe the thing to be best at is letting a life that turns bad know I will soon be getting back up.

The scoreboard may look daunting; but I am not daunted.

Some will argue, with some merit, that the Spurs were the better team in this series. It's unfortunate for them, though, that they never found a way to convince the Knicks of that.

Life will try to convince you you're done.

Don't let it.