3 People who had an Inexplicable Obsession and Succeeded
- LMN
- Mar 31, 2018
- 6 min read
Updated: Apr 25, 2018
Ordinary people have done extraordinary things and have accomplished the impossible by having an inexplicable obsession for God's vision for their lives. It's only when you have that drive to achieve that vision that you will do that extraordinary thing for which you have been created.
I found myself praying for this today for my children. One would think that an obsession is a bad thing. After all, fanatics are obsessed, over worked people are obsessed and mad people have an inexplicable obsession. But I think that if you are made to do a certain thing then it's good to be obsessed with that thing because fulfilling purpose and more importantly going through the process of executing purpose will make you joy-full, will fill you with peace and will contribute only good to people around you and to the world.
History is filled with persons who possessed an extraordinary drive and an inexplicable obsession to achieve particular goals….some goals have been more peculiar than some.
I thought that I would provide some examples as encouragement to those of us on this side of 50, for those of us who may be embarking on change, for those who are perhaps wondering why “this thing", for all of us to encourage those around us like our children in their (weird) dreams or to light up a bulb as we ponder on what next.
1. Dr. Spencer Silver
If I had thought about it, I wouldn't have done the experiment. The literature was full of examples that said you can't do this
When the chemist, Dr. Spencer Silver inadvertently stumbled upon his invention of an adhesive (called Acrylate Copolymer Microspheres ) in 1968, he wasn't sure what it could be used for but something told him that it was a valuable discovery. Little did he know that it would become today's most popular office supply - the Post-It Note.
Even in developing the adhesive, Silver showed an ‘inexplicable obsession’ by continuing to experiment with adding a chemical reactant until he produced an adhesive that was pressure sensitive, that could be peeled easily and that was reusable.
Photo: Dr. Spencer Silver and Arthur Fry showing off samples of the high-utility Post-it Note
When his company 3M rejected it as a feasible product that could make them money, Silver could have easily given up but for more than five years, he persisted in finding ways in which his adhesive could be used by promoting it via seminars to the product developers at 3M. In 1973 he approached the new CEO of 3M with an idea of using the adhesive on bulletin boards but this idea was shelved.
Considered by 3M as “solution without a problem.”, the adhesive would finally find its true place on little memo papers now called ‘Post-it Notes’ after Silver’s colleague Arthur Fry realized that the adhesive on paper (and not the bulletin board) made for excellent bookmarks in his hymn books. As the cliché goes, ‘thus was born’ the Post-it Note, now one of the top selling office products in the world!
2. Sojourner Truth (1797–1897)
If the first woman God ever made was strong enough to turn the world upside down all alone, these women together ought to be able to turn it back, and get it right side up again! And now they is asking to do it, the men better let them.
Sojourner Truth (formerly Isabella Baumfree) was an African-American slave who not only escaped to freedom but also pursued an ‘inexplicable obsession’ to have slavery abolished and on top of that, to advocate for women’s rights and prison reform. In an era when slaves were considered animals, devoid of intelligence and treated by law as property (Sojourner was purchased by slave owner John Neely with a herd of sheep for $100), Sojourner’s determination to accomplish the impossible was fuelled by her conviction that she was on a ‘holy mission’ to fight against slavery.
When her 5 year old son was illegally sold across state lines in New York, Sojourner took John Dumont, the seller, to court and won the case – the first ever case won by a black woman against a white man in an American court. Such was her obsession for justice that she brought and won another court case, this time for slander, against a couple called the Folgers who had tried to implicate Sojourner in the murder of her former boss, Elijah Pierson.
But her fame is more tied to her work as an abolitionist and activist for women’s rights. She toured the country speaking out against slavery and capital punishment; she activated for prison reform and to get federal grants for former slaves to own land so that they could be freed from indentured system of servitude. Truth is known as one of the earliest activists for the rights of women and her 1851 speech “Ain’t I a Woman?” speech at the Ohio Women's Rights Convention has become a historic women’s rights speech.
Her obsession to gain freedom for fellow slaves resulted in her meeting with President Abraham Lincoln to share her beliefs and opinions on policy. Not being able to read or write, Sojourner's inexplicable obsession serves as inspiration to all in working against all odds to achieve justice and fairness for all humanity regardless of social class, color or gender.
3. Inquoris "Inky" Johnson (born February 12, 1986)
Commitment is staying true to what you said you were going to do long after the mood that you have said it in has left.
I came across a YouTube video of Inky Johnson when I was looking for some inspirational videos to share with my children on not giving up. Inky’s inexplicable obsession with getting out of the projects and providing a better lifestyle for his family drove him to practice daily (and often past 10:30 at night) to become an NFL player.
His story is more than interesting – an underprivileged boy with an NFL dream who lived in a two-bedroom house infested with rats and roaches, with 14 people and who promises himself at the age of 7 that he would make it. He trains and works to the point of getting a scholarship with the University of Tennessee.
Despite growing up in a neighborhood fraught with drugs and crime as part of a family with 8 uncles in and out of jail, Inky succeeded in breaking the generational curse and became the first in his family to go to college. Inky says you’re not a product of your environment – you’re a product of your choices. That right there got me all teared up to this guy but his story continues and his dedication to inspiring millions in the face of tragedy just about warrants my tears!
Eight games away from the NFL, from becoming a multimillionaire, Inky gets injured in a game and becomes paralyzed in his right arm and hand. Inexplicably, Inky never gave up – he re-purposed his life or as he would say, he remained gripped by God’s purpose for his life, got a Master’s degree in Sports Psychology and now seeks to inspire others to follow their dream. Inky teaches and promotes all over the US at schools, colleges, and various events that we should be ‘gripped by the promise that God has purposes and plans far beyond our own’. Inky says his arm is paralyzed but his heart isn’t; that ‘things don’t happen to you, they happen for you’.
Inky is a prime example of a today person, an ordinary person who has an inexplicable obsession with God’s vision and succeeds as a result.
‘An inexplicable obsession’ is the stuff that creates Pauls, Daniels, Davids and Joshuas. We must be prepared that we may not understand this obsession but as long as its God’s, it’s good. Children and adults even may not have excelled in the normal school exams which are mathematically and linguistically focused - the challenge is to patiently work with our peculiar intelligence and not be pressured by what society says. Bill Gates had a thing for code and dropped out of college. So did Steve Jobs. Let’s be patient but discerning waiting and hoping in our Father who has downloaded gifts into us and our children which are compatible with the Plan that He has for us.
To be inexplicably obsessed by God's vision is to be 'gripped by the promise that God has purposes and plans far beyond our own'
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