Nick Vujicic

(http://startingtoflyin2010.blogspot.com/2010/10/stand-up-when-you-fall.html)

We all take so many things for granted. The fact that we can walk, the fact that we can comb our own hair, or the fact that we can even type an essay. Sometimes we can get easily discouraged allowing fear and difficult circumstances prevent us from dreaming big. Death of a family member or friend, divorcing of parents, moving to a new school, losing friends, or being bullied are all reasons for teens to get fearful of life, discouraged and think of running away, turning to drugs or alcohol, or becoming depressed. However, Nick Vujicic is an inspiring hero that reminds us that no matter what we face, we need to and can have courage and persevere to achieve great things. He reminds us to "Go over, go under, go around, or go through. But never give up" (Author unknown). Nick Vujicic was born in Brisbane, Australia, in 1982 with Phocomelia, an extremely rare disorder causing him to be born without any arms or legs (Mail Foreign Service). A limbless son was not what nurse Dushka Vujicic and her husband Pastor Boris Vujicic had been expecting. In fact, Nick's father was so shocked he left the room to vomit and his mother could not bring herself to hold him until he was four months old (Life Without Limbs). Doctors had no explanation. His birth was considered a tragedy. No one could see any good coming out of a boy being born with no arms or legs (Vujicic, Nick). Dushka and Boris did their best to give their son a 'normal' life. "It was so hard for them but right from the start they did their best to make me independent," says Nick (Mail Foreign Service). They enrolled him in public school, but he became the ridicule and target of bullying. Nick became fearful of how he would survive in life and struggled with depression, questioning his purpose and reason for living. At age 10, Nick fantasized about asking his parents to put him on a kitchen stool so he could "fall" off and hope to break his neck and die. "I felt there was no purpose. When you lack purpose and strength it is hard to hold on," he said (Basheda). At age 13, his mother showed him an article about a man with a disability who still managed to do great things and helped others (Mail Foreign Service). He then began to realize that he wasn't the only one with major struggles. He realized that it was the reason "why God had made us like this--to give hope to others. It was so inspirational to me that I decided to use my life to encourage other people and give them the courage that the article had given me" (Mail Foreign Service).

Bethany Hamilton teaching Nick how to surf. (http://andfinally.tv/2009/07/the-amazing-nick-vujicic/)

Nick was courageous, overcame his fears at age 17 and gave his first talk to his prayer group. By age 19, he was giving so many inspirational talks, his ministry "Life Without Limbs" came into existence. He also went on to overcome his fears of inability by obtaining a double Bachelor's degree, majoring in Accounting and Financial Planning from Griffith University in Logan, Australia. In 2008, he traveled to Hawaii and met surfing professional Bethany Hamilton, who had her arm bitten off by a shark when she was 12 years old. He decided not to be fearful and she taught him how to surf. Nick amazingly “quickly learned how to do three 360 degree spins on his board, a feat that got him on the cover of Surfer Magazine” (Mail Foreign Service). He could have been frozen in fear and never ventured to attempt any of these feats, but he overcame his fears. "Fear is a bigger disability than having no arms and no legs," he says in his book Life Without Limits.

Nick persevered through his many struggles and realized that he could be an inspiration to others, finding his purpose in life. This determined hero showed how much perseverance he had when he was “prohibited by Australian law from attending a mainstream school because of his physical disability, even though he was not mentally impaired. During his schooling, the laws were changed, and Vujicic was one of the first disabled students to be integrated into a mainstream school” (Charan). Nick could have just given up on mainstreaming school, but he instead didn’t give up and made a difference. Now at 28 years old, he has traveled around the world to 24 different countries, sharing his story and inspiring the lives of millions of people, reminding people that every single person is "wonderfully and fearfully made" (Life Without Limbs) and that every single person has a purpose and if they persevere they can achieve anything they set their minds to in life. "I found the purpose of my existence, and also the purpose of my circumstance. There's a purpose for why you're in the fire" (Vujicic, Nick). He chose to persevere through the fire of hard circumstances and find purpose in his obstacles. Nick endured through the many struggles he faced throughout his life and didn’t ever give up, no matter what the circumstance.

Nick at school writing with his toes. (http://www.dogonews.com/2009/7/31/nick-vujicic-an-extraordinary-human-being)

Nick Vujicic is an inspiring hero who reminds us to look at our difficult circumstances through different eyes. He could have chosen the way of self-pity and depression giving into his fears and living as a recluse, however he chose to embrace his circumstances thinking of it as a blessing rather than a fearful curse and persevere through his circumstances to become one of the most inspirational people in current history. He reminds us that instead of letting our difficult situations keep us frozen in fear that we too can choose to persevere and overcome our hardships to achieve great things. He reminds us to be courageous, to never give up, and inspires us to have a vision and dream big. He was born without limbs, but now is showing the world how to live a life without limits.