Inky Johnson was eight games away from playing in the NFL when tragedy struck. He played safety at the University of Tennessee and was projected to be a first-round NFL draft pick. But that dream evaporated. His football career ended in 2006 with an injury that permanently paralyzed his right arm. He reminds us that the things that happen in life are not designed to stop us but to grow us to serve others:

Anybody who has direct contact with people on a daily basis has an opportunity to change someone’s life. I won’t ever pass up an opportunity to be of encouragement to other people. Don’t ever pass up an opportunity to inspire someone. Don’t ever pass up an opportunity to empower someone. Don’t ever pass up an opportunity to show someone love because the thing about it — my wound — like you can see this. You can see my arm. My wound is visible. But there’s a lot of people in this room that are wounded. You can’t see it. It’s internal. So, the opportunities that we pass up to be a blessing to other people, we can save their life.