I love comebacks and watching people reach for their dreams, especially when the odds are against them. Another re-run of The Natural or Rocky suits me just fine. That’s why I enjoy talking about the people on our teams who find a way back from the brink.

One of my favorite Juice Plus+ stories is how Karen Ogg of Katy, Texas beat the odds when she became a National Marketing Director while caring for her cancer-ridden husband. Many of us can remember praying for Leighton as he clawed his way back and returned to touching so many lives through his counseling ministry. It’s a special story for me because Leighton and I share a deep friendship that started over 40 years ago.

The real story, however, was not Karen’s becoming a National Marketing Director. The story she loves to tell is about the people on her team whose love for her and collective determination carried her across the finish line during what may have been the most difficult season in her life.

Not very long ago, NMD Kathy Crockett was looking up at the bottom. It’s hard to believe that her once-growing organization had slipped from an almost-24-Club level to a mere 7 qualifying businesses. The downward slide was painful and heartbreaking, and left Kathy unsure of herself—at a loss about what to do with her dwindling team. She came close to letting it all go away. Most of us know what happened. It’s one of the most encouraging comeback stories in Juice Plus+ circles. Now a member of the 39 Club, she’s one of those leaders people just love to follow.

This kind of story most often starts against all odds—without any promise or guarantee of a successful run. It begins in a quiet place inside of us—away from the confident encouragement of a friend or the positive energy that flows so freely at a Juice Plus+ Leadership Conference. As in Kathy’s case, our commitment and vision can be re-kindled only through some serious, unrushed soul-searching.

I never get tired of hearing the stories about these good and caring people—the folks who find a way to dig out of their discouragement and go on to find even deeper, more authentic reasons to begin again. The Karen Ogg and Kathy Crockett stories serve a simple purpose: To remind us that we can recover our dreams and rebuild our teams.

The battle back for any of us is not in finding the perfect DVD, reading the very best book on self-improvement or simply engaging in more frenetic activity, but by steadily working through our tentative attitudes and then getting very intentional about growing our Juice Plus+ business one customer at a time, one distributor at a time, one day at a time. 

We can start today.