If Tyson can do it, we can too

If anyone reading this is going through a rough time or transitioning from a string of bad circumstances, have no fear....I have great news. If Mike Tyson can bounce back and totally revamp his image, so can we!

And I'm being completely honest here, all jokes aside. On July 31st, Mike Tyson (yes...that Mike Tyson) will be making his Broadway debut. Yes...that Broadway. The man who was addicted to drugs, convicted of rape, arrested numerous other times, bit off the ear of an opponent, tattooed the entire left side of his face, had it all and embarrassingly lost it all, well...you get the idea. That same man turned his pain into a must see show on the worlds most prestigious stage. And the best part is...he's talking about all of the things in his life that should have kept him from a Broadway stage. Stop playin!

Two things immediately stood out to me when I read that article. One...through it all, Mike Tyson kept moving forward. He never gave up on himself. We'd see him pop up on a tv show or two, a movie or two. We may have dismissed it as Tyson being Tyson, but he was slowly changing our perception of him with each step forward. We all remember the Tyson of 10 years ago. None of us could have or would have predicted this type of turnaround. Not from what we saw of Tyson to that point. It took a while, and I give him credit for continuing to believe in himself.

The second thing that stood out was the fact that Tyson, through all of his embarrassing moments never took himself too seriously. He was ok with the fact that he was "not ok". He knew that he was the butt of the joke, and he laughed right along. I guess he knew something we didn't. Tyson's Las Vegas show was a brutally honest assessment of his trials and tribulations, but done so in a light hearted manner. It was a hit! Comedian Kevin Hart turned his own pain into prosperity with his smash hit "Laugh at My Pain". It's something to be said for that. Neither could be accomplished without first...forgiving yourself.

I'm rooting for Mike to continue to evolve and move forward with his life. I'm rooting for that for all of us that have fallen short. Did I mention that Tyson will be 47 this month? It's never too late. We still have hope!    follow @plcolter