Nick is 26 years old, was born in Australia, went to a normal school and has completed double major degree in Finance & Accountancy. He has travelled all the six continents as an inspirational speaker, etc. What else? Oh yes, I forgot to tell that he also swims, plays golf, types at a speed of 42 words per minute ( faster than you and me ). And makes some money from stock market trading and real estate business. Charity? Certainly yeas. He runs a foundation also.
If you are questioning me why I am taking your time by dishing out these stereotype 'qualifications' similar to hundreds of persons into whom you bump into now and then, please hold your breath! Nick is not like you and me! He is different. He is Nick Vujicic! Ryan English has written beautifully about him and I invite you to http://www.salvationarmy.org.au/warcry/default.asp?contentID=1413. Ryan writes:”
When Nick Vujicic was born, his mother didn’t want to hold him. In fact, she asked the doctors to take him away. ...‘My Dad did not think I would survive for very long,’ says Nick. ‘But tests proved that I was a healthy baby boy with just one hitch: I’d been born without any limbs.’
Missing both arms at shoulder level, and having one small foot with two toes protruding from his left thigh, Nick was a complete surprise to his parents. Medicine has been unable to explain his condition and his mother was very careful during pregnancy, even avoiding pain-killers like Panadol. His parents, dedicated Christians, couldn’t help but ask themselves: ‘If God is a God of love, then why would he let something like this happen, and especially to devoted Christians?’ Understandably, they worried about the kind of life Nick would be able to lead.
It took them months to come to terms with the situation facing their firstborn. But they overcame their fears and worked hard to give him the best life they could, including attending school. ‘I was the first disabled student to be integrated into a mainstream Australian school,’ says Nick. Like many things in his life, getting into the school he wanted was a fight. At the time, Australian law didn’t allow physically disabled children into mainstream schools, even if they weren’t mentally impaired. However, Nick’s mum fought to change the law, and won.
‘I liked going to school,’ says Nick. ‘I always tried to get myself involved as much as possible, and wanted to do what everyone else was doing.’ ...‘[But] it was very hard at times,’ he says, ‘because kids are kids.’
Nick was singled out and bullied by the other students for his physical differences. ‘It was very hard to deal with that rejection at times—kids staring at me, laughing at me, making up names and all those sorts of things. ‘I went home crying a lot of times and asking “Why? Why did God do it?” and Mum and Dad told me, “Only God knows”.’ Blaming God for his disability, Nick didn’t want anything to do with him—a difficult thing in a Christian home. ‘I didn’t want to speak to him, I didn’t want to hear about him,’ he says. ........
At eight, Nick began to contemplate suicide. ‘I looked at my life and I thought, not going to get married, not going to have kids, not going to have family, not going to have a job, not going to be independent—all those things in life that everybody else takes for granted. I didn’t think that kind of life was worth living.‘When I was 10 I actually tried to suicide by turning over in my family bathtub three times. What stopped me going through with it was the thought of leaving my parents with a lifetime of guilt on their shoulders, wishing they could have done something more for their son.’
Eventually, Nick found his way forward. Taking his parents’ advice, he began starting conversations with the people around him and anyone who treated him differently.
‘Soon the students realized I was just like them,’ he says. Starting there, Nick never had any trouble making new friends. Than, at 13, Nick read a newspaper article that would change his life.
‘[It was] about a man who was disabled,’ he says. ‘I realized that I wasn’t the only person in the world in a situation that couldn’t be changed and didn’t make sense. ‘I realized I had a choice. Either I could be angry with God for what I didn’t have, or be thankful to God for what I did have.
Nick held out hope for a miracle, but eventually came to realize something: ‘If God doesn’t change your circumstance, then he’s going to use it.’
That realization gave Nick a new direction in life that many people wouldn’t have considered; to, as he puts it, ‘encourage and inspire others to live to their fullest potential and not let anything get in the way of accomplishing their hopes and dreams.’
So, from the age of 19, Nick began talking to people about his experiences—and now, at 26, he has built a life for himself that can only be called extraordinary.
‘I’ve learned to become independent and can now take care of all my personal needs. ‘I’m able to do everything from brushing my teeth and combing my hair to dressing up and taking care of my personal hygiene, including shaving.
‘I get around the house by jumping around and, outside the house, an electric wheelchair assists me.’
Nick has made a name for himself simply by overcoming challenges he sets for himself. He swims, drives a boat, enjoys fishing (with an electronic reel), plays soccer and, most recently, and has taken up surfing. ‘They put me on the front cover of Surfer Magazine,’ Nick says. ‘It was fantastic. I was able to jump and spin myself 360 degrees around on the board—no surfer has ever done that before.’
......His real passion is motivational speaking, sharing his faith in God and his incredible story with anyone who wants—or needs—to hear it. Now living in He was awarded The Most Inspirational Life Award at the Christian Music Awards in California
The book is due for release in September next year, when Nick appears on Oprah—a long-time dream of his.
He’s achieved a lot, and is looking set to achieve even more, but does he still hold out hope for a miraculous healing? ( He says)
my motto ...... has been: if God doesn’t give you a miracle, then you are a miracle to someone else… I am a miracle just the way I am.’
- Ryan English
Nick has a very great sense of humour: He says that not having arms or legs means no need for expensive shoes, wrist watch, ring, etc! When asked how he visions himself 20 years from now, he said - being married, and walking his daughter down the aisle. Coming back to the title of this post, I asked myself: how many years am I older than Nick? With all limbs in tact, how much have I travelled beyond Nick's journey of life? Where would I have been, if I were to be born like? How many people are there around us who have all limbs but no heart?
After reading Nick’s journey, I have found the answers. And the answers lie in attitude, confidence, will power, determination, faith & action and not words, not in excuses, not in blame game, not in overconfidence.
As the Nike advertisement tells us – “Just Do it”; because life is short and tasks are endless.
Nick has shown us that it is in our hands to turn the 'life without limbs' into 'life without limit' .
Thank you and best wishes, dear Nick !!
Nick has shown us that it is in our hands to turn the 'life without limbs' into 'life without limit' .
Thank you and best wishes, dear Nick !!