Devan Johnson’s Experience 2010
My experience began three years ago when I attempted to join the military in order to earn money quickly to pay for school. After months of being given the run around due to having been diagnosed with childhood asthma, I thought, “this is crazy why am I fighting to get in to the military.” So I applied to this mechanics school I kept seeing commercials for on television. Later that week I get a call from the school’s recruiter. He explains to me that the enrollment process requires a screening process for all of its applicants and he will have to ask me a series of questions. Before he begins he says “Here at UTI we want you to understand that you are not a Mechanic you are a Technician.” After the interview he tells me he will call back in a few days to let me know if I am accepted or not. It is November 9th, I receive a call saying that I had been accepted. Then it hit me, at the age of fourteen my mother died from pancreatic cancer, November 9th was her birthday. I remembered she always reminded me she never wanted any of her children joining the military. Wait, how am I going to pay for it? I live in Alabama and the school is way out in Texas I’ve got to pack, move, save, plan…..”NO” I say to myself, I will not be defeated. I don’t know how or where the money will be coming from but I am going. When I first arrive in Texas I contact my new district members to start attending meetings, next I get a part time job to pay for my bills. As school gets more involved my hours begin to get cut back and I have to get a second part time job along with school to pay for rent and all other necessities. Its all one HUGE balancing act and I’m fighting to stay on top. As time goes by sleep deprivation starts to get the best of me. I stop coming to meetings all together just to get a full eight hours of sleep on the weekends in order to be rested for the upcoming week. Soon even gongyo falls to getting accomplished every now and then. Everything completely falls apart; my current relationship fails I get laid of from one of my jobs and I start to fall behind on rent. Fortunately my family is able to help me out for a while but even that doesn’t help and the eviction notices start to show up. I contact a fellow member, DeShon, for guidance. He meets me at my apartment for a home visitation. It’s been almost two years since we last saw each other. During our conversation he reminds me that I have forgotten the most important piece to my jumbled puzzle, chanting Nam-Myoho-Renge-Kyo. After our inspirational reunion I decided I need to do something to always remind me how important this practice is and always will be in my life. I decide to get Nam-Myoho-Renge-Kyo tattooed on me as it appears on the Gonhonzon. I put it on my forearm because it is the first tattoo I always see to symbolize where the practice is supposed to be in my life, FIRST. After returning from my long hiatus to meetings I learned that there was a youth festival coming up and the hip-hop dance group needed some help. Normally I would have quickly said no and be done with it because I have always had a severe stage freight especially dancing in front of a large crowd, but I remembered a New Year’s resolution I made where I have to say yes to everything I would normally say no to, so I agreed to help out, like I had a choice. I also learned that my graduation was to be the same weekend of the youth festival which made me really nervous. Both the graduation and youth festival came and went without much of a fuss but the real scary part had arrived. I had graduated with no job. The month before graduation I had lost both my jobs due to repeated car trouble and my lease was ending a month after graduation. After falling in love with my new found SGI family and accomplishing so much on my own I made the determination to stay in Texas. I got two interviews but no solid job offers and even though I had fixed my car from its earlier problem another one occurred. No job, no money, and no car. How am I going to get over this huge obstacle? I began thinking maybe I’m supposed to move back home for some reason, maybe there is a bigger issue that needs to be taken care of before I begin this stage of my life, should I give up? I have no car to get to any interview and no money for gas even if I did have the car. I got more guidance from another member who also offered to help me out. They encouraged me to increase my daily one hour of daimoku to two hours. Days go by and still no word on the job offers. My parents finally gave me one week to find a job or else I’d have to move back home because it was starting to do more harm than good staying in Texas with no job. As I chanted I thought to myself I have to make the impossible possible I have to be victorious. Three days left, I get a call for another interview. At this point I was so drained from everything I was beginning to mentally admit defeat. “Ok Gohonzon, I give up, I am putting my complete faith and trust in you. I want to stay here, I want to prove to myself and everyone else that even in the face of Armageddon that I will be victorious.” Two hours after the interview I get a phone call offering me the job with full benefits and insurance with weekends off!!! After accepting and hanging up I completely breakdown I had done it!! I achieved Victory through my faith, determination and devotion to the practice…and now in my victory I stand here as proof of the unlimited power of Nam-Myoho-Renge-Kyo. Now, I ask you. Will you challenge yourself when life brings you down and you are faced with your obstacles? Will you persevere and make the impossible possible?? I did!!!
