Even the best gets stuck. Consider George Frederick Handel; during his career, he faced colossal adversity. Competition with rival English composers was fierce. Audiences were fickle and sometimes didn’t turn out for his performances. Several times he found himself penniless and on the verge of bankruptcy. The pain of rejection and failure was difficult to bear, especially following his previous success.
Then it got worse; his health began to fail. He suffered a seizure and stroke, which left his right arm limp and caused him to lose the use of his four fingers on his right hand. He did recover but became despondent.
In 1741 Handel decided that it was time to retire, even though he was only fifty-six. He was discouraged, miserably, and consumed with debt to the degree he felt he would land in debtor’s prison. On April 8, he gave his farewell concert. Disappointed and filled with self-pity, he gave up. But in August of that year, something happened. A friend named Charles Jennings gave him a Libretto based on the Life of Christ. It stirred something in him, and the floodgates of inspiration opened up. The disappointment, despair, and depression were broken. For twenty-one days, he wrote nonstop. Then he spent two more days creating the orchestration. In twenty-four days, he completed the 260-page manuscript, he called the piece Messiah.
Today, Handel’s Messiah is considered a masterpiece. And it will remain forever, the most remarkable feat in the whole history of music composition.
So no matter your delays or setbacks, your comeback is on its way!