Salute this man’s “ATTITUDE”
The man who was born with ‘Phocomelia’, a rare disorder characterised by the absence of all four limbs, is standing ‘tall’ by his attitude and conviction that if the world says “Nick,you dont have hands”,I look back at the world and say “I may not have hands to hold my wife’s hands, but I don’t need hands to hold her heart. That’s what I’m gonna hold.”
Tragic Beginning:
Nick Vujicic was born to Dushka and Boris Vujicic in 1982 in Melbourne, Australia. His parents had a shock of their life seeing him born without arms and legs. Nick was born with Phocomelia, a rare disorder characterised by the absence of all four limbs. He had no legs, but two small feet, one of which had two toes. Hats off to his parents for having raised him to be such a wonderful human being, digesting the bitter truth and shoving off the criticism and bullying of the neighbours.
Troubled Schooling:
Initially, a Victoria state law prevented Nick from attending a mainstream school due to his physical disability in spite of a lack of mental impairment. However, Vujicic became one of the first physically disabled students integrated into a mainstream school once those laws changed. However, his lack of limbs made him a target for school bullies, and he fell into a severe depression. At age eight, he contemplated suicide and even tried to drown himself in his bathtub at age ten; his love for his parents prevented him from following through. During secondary school, he was elected captain of MacGregor State in Queensland and worked with the student council on fundraising events for local charities and disability campaigns.
Accepting the Truth:
Nick prayed very hard that God would give him arms and legs, and initially told God that, if his prayer remained unanswered, Nick would not praise him indefinitely. However, a key turning point in his faith came when his mother showed him a newspaper article about a man dealing with a severe disability. Vujicic realized he wasn’t unique in his struggles and began to embrace his lack of limbs. After this, Nick realized his accomplishments could inspire others and became grateful for his life. Nick gradually figured out how to live a full life without limbs, adapting many of the daily skills limbed people accomplish without thinking. Nick writes with two toes on his left foot and a special grip that slid onto his big toe. He knows how to use a computer and can type up to 45 words per minute using the “heel and toe” method. He has also learned to throw tennis balls, play drum pedals, get a glass of water, comb his hair, brush his teeth, answer the phone and shave, in addition to participating in golf, swimming, and even sky-diving.
Source of Inspiration to others:
When he was seventeen, Nick started to give talks at his prayer group, and later founded his non-profit organization, Life Without Limbs. Vujicic promotes his work through television shows and through his writing. His first book, Life Without Limits: Inspiration for a Ridiculously Good Life, was published by Random House in 2010. He markets a motivational DVD, Life’s Greater Purpose, a short documentary filmed in 2005. The second part of the DVD was filmed at his local church in Brisbane – one of his first professional motivational speeches. He markets a DVD for young people titled No Arms, No Legs, No Worries!.
A few quotes from his Inspirational lectures:
- If I can encourage just one person then my job in this life is done.
- Everybody loves winning, but we should not linger on the difference between winning and losing… But Is losing failing?
- I love my life, because I’ve seen my purpose.
- I am gonna try again and again, because the moment I give up, is the moment I fail.
- I never met a bitter person who was thankful. Or a thankful person who was bitter.
- It’s a lie to think you’re not good enough. It’s a lie to think you’re not worth anything.
- Along the way you might fall down, … sometimes in life, you might fall down and can’t find the strength to get back up… do you think you have hope? Because I tell you, I’m down here and I have no arms and no legs, …It should be impossible for me to get up, but it’s not. As long as I try, there’s always a chance of getting up. It’s not the end until you give up.
- I don’t care if you are a good mathematician, or a good athletic, or not good at anything- that you think. But I’m gonna come and tell you that you’re awesome the way you are.
- I may not have hands to hold my wife’s hands, but I don’t need hands to hold her heart. That’s what I’m gonna hold.
- I have the choice to be angry in God for what I don’t have or be thankful for what you do have.
- There’s no point in being complete on the outside when you’re broken in the inside.
- I will try one hundred times to get up, and if I fail one hundred times. If I fail and I give up, will I ever get up? No! If I fail I’ll try again, and again and again. But I want to tell you it’s not the end.
- Failure is not important, how you overcome it is.
“Take a Bow, Mr Nick, for standing tall with your attitude and conviction, and for showing us all a way to Live”