“There are no shortcuts. There are no easy buttons. There are no magic techniques.

You just have to do the work, damn it.

The question is…

Are you going to do it? Or are you going to sit there whining about how hard it all is and let the world pass you by?

The choice is yours.”

Jon Morrow

. . .

The quote above is from one of Jon Morrow’s articles. I guess you wouldn’t be surprised if I told you Jon Morrow is a millionaire. But would you perhaps be astonished if I told you he is disabled? You might even be more surprised if I told you that the only part of his body he can move is his eyes and lips. The other parts of his body are paralyzed.

I’ll share the story of Jon Morrow in the paragraphs below- how he is an inspiration and some essential lessons to learn from his success story.

He is disabled, yet, he’s making it and living the life. How is that even possible? I know, I know this question keeps coming to your mind about this ‘ royal awesomeness’.

Jon Morrow is a blogger. With the help of speech recognition technology, he has written many awe-spiring articles read by millions of people, and which had, in turn, made him a millionaire. He’s an inspiration to so many people.

. . .

His story
Morrow is a great storyteller. And from his inspirational articles, I’ve been able to cop this few pieces. Sit back and enjoy!

Aged one, Jon hadn’t begun to crawl, he made attempts to crawl, he tried, but, he could only try. His worried mother, Pat Morrow, decided to take her son to the hospital against everyone’s opinion that she’s probably worrying herself over nothing, and that he’ll eventually walk. I guess a mother’s instinct is something that cannot be overemphasized.

At the hospital, Mrs Morrow received the most heartbreaking news ever, her son, Jon, suffers from a neuromuscular disorder, called spinal muscular atrophy – this means as Jon grows older, he’ll grow weaker instead of stronger. At some point in his life, he’ll be unable to move. And, he’ll not be able to breathe on his own. Also, someday, he will be infected, this infection will make its way to his respiratory system, and he will have very severe pneumonia. The doctor’s words in a sum are that Jon won’t be able to survive all these past the age of 2.

Mrs Morrow, who was more perturbed and angered by the doctor’s withdrawal to her son’s fate to die, was resilient and willing to fight the battle for her son. And miraculously, 16years after, Jon suffered from 16 severe cases of pneumonia, but he didn’t die. I’m quite sure aside from the medical tours, she invested a large amount of her time praying he survives it. That Jon, survives this, is a pointer that he’s destined to live and do great things.

Mrs Morrow didn’t stop at the battle for her son to live. She fought that he be also educated when the school’s principal didn’t want disabled children around. And, when Jon could no longer lift a thing as a pen, the selfless mother made arrangements for honours students at local colleges to help with his assignments after school hours.

Over the years, Jon suffered from several broken bones, and he recovered. He spent most of his life in the hospital but remained determined to make something beautiful out of his life.

In 2006, Jon’s minivan was hit by a car that was speeding so much. The speeding vehicle sped into Jon’s minivan, breaking the entire front end of his van. Jon was pulled out with fire in his shirt and with broken legs in about fourteen places.

The battle only he could face
Throughout his growing up years, Jon realized his family had fought so many battles for/with him. He couldn’t let them down. He began to fight many battles on his own. He fought the fight to be listened to, and not merely being shoved aside because he’s disabled. He fought the battle against the stereotypical Stare and judgement given to the disabled beforehand; he fought the fight against wallowing in self-pity, destruction and depression.

The battle after the accident was, therefore, a necessary battle for him to fight and win. Jon was in the hospital for the next month, enduring the pains that came with the broken bones.

Afterward, he focused his time on rehab as doctors had predicted he’d need a year to recover. Surprisingly, Jon only used half the year. During this period, he thought about everything concerning his life. He didn’t like where he was heading, so he quit. No, he didn’t stop his life; he quit his job and sold his belongings.

After Jon quit his job, he ventured into blogging. He dedicated all his time to it – no time for T.V., no time for friends, no time to check the time, literally.

Within two months, Jon’s blog was getting about 2,000 visitors a day, and it was nominated for the best blog for business/money of the year. Few months after the recognition, Brian Clark asked him to become an associate editor of CopyBlogger – one of the most popular blogs in the world. The job offer was a lifetime opportunity for Jon, he sold his blog On Moneymaking for five figures and joined the team.

Jon Morrow is now the C.E.O. of smart bloggers and other blogs where he keeps getting his bulks. He’s such an inspiration, I know. The story above is just a miniature of what Jon story is, to get to know more about him and get inspired, check references below.

Important life-changing lessons we can learn from Morrow’s story

Your dreams are valid
I know a lot of people aim so high, that they stop to look at themselves and say ‘who will Even invest you? ‘who do you know?’ ‘others can do what you’re doing better’. Just stop there. I know this because I’m among ‘a lot of people’.
Regardless of whatever it is that we’re doing, we should always have it in mind that our dreams are valid and we are what we think. Who would have ever thought that someone who couldn’t move his body from his neck down could become a millionaire through blogging? Jon is a living testimony of valid dreams. He should be an inspiration to you, if you ever think of giving up.

You are not a lost cause
If Mrs Morrow had given up on Jon, and had wallowed in self-pity and accepted her fate, I guess we might probably not know nor hear of anyone as Jon Morrow. What if Jon had conceded defeat and accepted that a disabled couldn’t make it? We’ll never hear of him.

Your case isn’t the worst-case scenario ever. No matter how bad you might think you have it, there’s someone whose case is worst than yours. Please get up, and work on yourself. Your case isn’t a lost one. Read stories filled with inspirations and be inspired!

You’re not a failure
I guess I left out that part where Jon failed at his first 3blogs; well, there, you have it. That doesn’t mean you will fail, though. But if perhaps you fail at your first attempt or on several attempts, that doesn’t label you a failure. We only become perfect after doing something for a long time. Perfection here is relative because perfection belongs to God exclusively.
And most importantly, we should draw inspiration from our failures and work smarter for the next attempt.

There will always be pains
I do not think I have heard any success stories without problems nor endurance. The success stories I have listened to are bore out of patience, persistence, and hard work, coupled with pains. I know these, because my father is a living example, he’s successful because of many things, he is successful today because he endured – he is successful because he’s patient, he worked hard from being a messenger to being a boss. Jon is a more prominent living example.

Jon had it so bad, he spent most of his years in the hospital, yet he channelled his pains in the right direction. He made lemonade out of lemons. He talked about his problems in his blog, and he inspires millions of people through channelling his pain in the right direction. You can be Jon.

Don’t dwell on negativity
Most times, we find it easier to dwell on the negative part than focus on the positive side. We sometimes forget that we are what we think. There were so many times Jon wasn’t accepted amongst the cool kids in the school; people belittle him because of his disability, he couldn’t even lift any part of his body. But did he let depression overweigh him? No. Did he settle for suicide? No. He instead decided on the positive side. He aims to make it blogging, to become one of the best in the game, and he made it.

Jon Morrow is now an inspiration to many start-up bloggers and a go-to in the blogging field. You too can make it in whatever field you venture into, as long as you focus on the positivity.

Learn always to thank God
Do you know Jon thinks his life is fantastic despite his disabilities? He finds strength and inspiration in his pains and disability. From his behaviour is a hidden grateful nature. He’s thankful for life and doesn’t even think suicide is the best option.

Life throws a little adversity at us, and we’re already blaming God. Nobody has it easy, and there are some whose cases are worse than yours – always focus on this, and your life will be alot easier. Next time, when life hits you hard, thank God because someone out there has it worse than you. Then, pray to God to help you. Hard work with God pays a lot!

Final Thoughts
I read somewhere that great stories are timeless. I guess that’s one of the reasons I’m drawn to Jon’s stories; sometimes, I need to seek inspiration. I know in years to come, Jon Morrow’s story will remain timeless, and people who come to read of his story will still see him as an inspiration. I hope someday; I’ll be another Jon Morrow, even better, who will inspire the world.