John Robinson: Courage Unlimited

Shock. It's the word John Robinson used to describe how his parents felt when he was born. Robinson, 41, was born without any arms or knees, a rare congenital birth defect. Shock.

His sister has led a normal physical life. His two biological children are normal. So the question Robinson has had to ask himself a few times in his life is "why me"?

"It's true I thought that way a few times but for the most part I looked at what happened to me as a glass half full situation," he said.

And John Robinson wouldn't let it derail his life in any way. About five or six years ago John started to keep a journal about his experiences. "I didn't want to look at myself in the mirror," he said. "I didn't want to watch videos of myself. So I looked at doing this as something for myself, therapeutic, trying to understand the purpose of this. Then I had enough material to put in a book and figured maybe I could help someone by sharing my experiences."

The autobiographical story is called, Get Off Your Knees, published by Syracuse University Press. It's available on Amazon.com. "I felt this was a good way to reach others who are having a tough time with obstacles in their lives," he said. "We all have them."

Robinson has had more than his share of roadblocks but he was helped by a very close-knit, small community in New England as well as at a small prep school. "Most of the kids knew me so their reaction was fine," he said. "I am very fortunate that my parents surrounded me with faith, too."

John draws upon his faith as one of the ways in which he deals with such a tough challenge in his life. "There's a reason for this happening to me," he said. "My faith has taught me that. And it's been part of my upbringing since I was young. My father is a retired Episcopalian priest. And he's a son of a Methodist minister. So my parents gave me a foundation of faith. I draw upon my faith as to how it helps me. I don't preach to people. I just tell them this is how it helped me and gave me purpose."

Robinson now speaks to businesses and students at schools across the country. He is finding very receptive audiences to hearing his story. "I tell them it's okay. We can work through whatever problems they have," he said. "It's very gratifying to hear their responses, see them paying attention, and hearing their reactions."

John concluded, "It's how you look at an obstacle that determines whether you will be successful in overcoming it. The one word I think best describes what people can get from my message is hope."

From his website: Getoffyourknees.org:

*Robinson has twenty years of sales experience in media and is presently the Director of Corporate Support for WMHT in Albany/Schenectady/Troy NY. He worked for many years in advertising sales with the NBC affiliates (WNYT, Albany; 2000-2005 and WSTM, Syracuse; 1994-2000). John is a 1990 graduate of the S.I. Newhouse School of Public Communications at Syracuse University.

John Robinson is the subject of a national documentary shown on Public Broadcasting Stations titled Get Off Your Knees: The John Robinson Story and the author of an autobiography, Get Off Your Knees: A Story of Faith, Courage, and Determination published by Syracuse University Press.