Learn about how Inky Johnson turned a career ending injury into a story of inspiration and personal growth. Inky shares his experience in dealing with an injury that completely changed his life and how he went from struggling to understand it to using it as a platform for spiritual growth and service to other people.
Inky Johnson grew up in a city outside of Atlanta, born to a young mother of just 16 years of age. His early years were hard but they were some of the best years of his life. Growing up that way shaped and molded him, and gave him the motivation to improve his family’s life.
Inky loved football growing up but he also played basketball, baseball, and competed in track and field sports. An influential coach helped him make the decision to pursue football seriously.
The one thing we all have in common is that we will face opposition and adversity. One of Inky’s earliest memories of pain was experiencing a police raid when he was a child. He will never forget how that experience and ones like it shaped his decision making and choices as a young man.
Inky’s first real teacher was his eighth grade teacher and basketball coach. He recalls a moment where his teacher told him that he was better than the environment he was growing up in. The teacher took Inky under his wing and began picking him up each day before school, teaching him proverbs, and encouraging Inky to write about his dreams, goals, and aspirations. He continued to do that throughout high school and it completely changed his life.
Inky’s greatest moment of adversity happened when it looked like he was set to achieve everything that he wanted. During a simple practice, Inky suffered a life threatening injury and woke up in the emergency room, being told that his football career was over.
The greatest challenge was in trying to understand. When a person goes through something that they don’t understand and is painful, it can prevent them from moving into their purpose. The opposition can be so heavy and strong that it makes seeing why and what you should do very difficult.
Inky turned and faced his situation and instead of trying to understand it, he focused on just surviving it. Once he attained a certain level of peace around his new situation, he was able to accept it and see where it fit into his purpose.
We all get to a point in the journey where we yield to our circumstances. Whenever you are going through something and trying to change your life, it’s a “you issue.” Don’t blame other people or circumstances, getting back into balance is down to you. Inky had to yield first to get to a place of understanding.
Inky has been speaking for the past 14 years and the husband and father in him wouldn’t change what happened to him. He noticed that what happened to him started to affect other people and impacted their lives in positive ways. By serving a greater purpose than just himself, Inky has found an incredible amount of peace, which he is very grateful for.
Purpose is about finding your natural gifts and talents and then using those to be of service to the world. For Inky, that means leaving the world better than he found it and leaving a legacy of action for his children.
The beauty of opposition, adversity, and challenges are that they introduce us to who we really are and help us identify with other people and have a level of empathy for their struggles and their journeys.
Inky’s comeback shoutout goes to his mother. She always let young Inky chase his dreams and gave him the space to pursue his goals.
Never forget that you’re worthy and that all of us go through struggles. Three of the hardest words for a person to say are, “I need help.” Don’t go through it alone; ask for help and you may be surprised by the answer you get. Once you get through your struggle, find someone who is dealing with what you made it through and help them through it.
It’s selfish of us to go through what we go through and to hold that experience to ourselves. We can only keep