Jimmie Johnson has been known for his strong mentality on the race track. What makes his ability to block the outside world particularly admirable is that he has dealt with one too many heartbreaking tragedies in his personal life. Helping him brave through these storms and stay optimistic are professionals whom he recommends to everyone out there.
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Johnson was in an interview with High Performance this week when the hosts brought forward how he was an advocate for professional therapy and asked him to provide advice for people who are thinking of seeking help. The icon responded by mentioning how his first experience with counseling was after the death of his brother-in-law in 2004.
He continued, “Professionals somehow help you realize that you’re not alone. You’re not the first one to go through this, whatever it might be. They have tools that can help you simplify because it’s so easy just for your brain to go, and I have found that professionals help me finally put a box around it.”
Showing the right tools to simplify all the mental mess is what he considers to be the beauty of professional help. He further attributed his crew chief, Chad Knaus, and a sports psychologist as being individuals who have helped him be his best self. Johnson has always been an optimistic person at heart and that ought to have helped him in no small measure.
Johnson’s insurmountable loss of family through the years
Jordan Janway, the brother of Johnson’s wife Chandra, passed away right before their wedding in 2004 following a skydiving accident. He was a professional instructor with over 1,000 jumps under his belt. But on that unfortunate day, he collided with a fellow diver and was knocked unconscious, rendering him incapable of opening his parachute.
The incident cast the entire family into gloom. Nearly a decade later, tragedy struck again. Chandra’s mother, Terry Janway, shot and killed herself after killing her husband, Jack Janway, and their 11-year-old grandson, Dalton, in their home in Muskogee, Oklahoma. This further tested Johnson’s strength to the core.
He wrote in a social media post, “Our family is devastated by the profound loss of [Terry] Lynn, Jack, and Dalton Janway. We have been humbled by the outpouring of love and support during this unthinkably sad time and remain grateful for all of your compassion.” Thanks to his openness to seek help, he has been able to move on with life past these miseries.
