Have you ever dreamed of reclaiming your former glory, recognition, or 15 minutes of fame? Perhaps you long to have the physique and stamina that you once had. Maybe you miss a position once held at another organization what seems like a lifetime ago.

Indeed, time doesn't wait for any of us. Positions are lost. Opportunities pass. Our body ages and the weight seems to stay on longer than before.

Often it seems like the past is out of reach, that we can never be quite who we once were. While that may be true, that belief can often be challenged. With extra dedication, hard work, persistence, and  belief in yourself, sometimes much of our former selves can be regained. Indeed, sometimes we can surpass who we once were.

This is because our experience is also not what it once was. If we learn from past mistakes, lost opportunities, or unrealized potentional, we can put that knowledge to work. For the second time around we can draw on past experiences and skill sets to push through where our younger self may have fallen short.

It will not be easy. At times, you may doubt yourself. But if you remain committed to the course of action you set before you, anything can be accomplished. And when you do accomplish your lofty goal, the reward is so much sweeter than when you were younger and attained as much by working less.

Much like Steve Jobs, who after being ousted by Apple, later returned to save the company and take them to drastically new heights. Or like an aged boxer, who comes out of retirement to surprise everybody and regain his former championship titles, beating the younger men along the way. Or like Mario Lemieux coming out of retirement after surviving Hodgkin's disease, to step onto the ice as an owner/player and set all kinds of NHL records for the Pittsburgh Penguins.

I've been driven enough to do this in my professional life with my technology company; as well as my personal life, with rebuilding our home and estate; to my athletic achievements with martial arts training and reopening my karate school. 

In all of those cases rebounding meant the world to me. I suppose it's the wrestler or fighter's spirit. 

If you've been knocked down, get back up. Rebound and excel. The alternative is to stay down and never recover what you once achieved.

That's never really been an option for me.

So be courageous and go after those second chances that you deserve!