Imagine a life where you have no arms and no legs. You have no fingers to brush your teeth, no legs to run cycle in the rain.
All you have are two-finger like extensions from one of your thighs.
This is the condition of Nick Vujicic, an Australian motivational speaker, and preacher who was born without arms and legs, a rare condition called tetra-amelia syndrome that occurs in 1 out of every 71,000 babies.
Nick was born in 1982, to two Australian parents. When his parents saw his condition they knew Nick would lead a special and different life.
And that was just the case. Nick had a different kind of childhood. He grew up feeling different from all the kids in school.
He constantly felt out of place and school bullies made it worse by calling him a freak.
Many nights he’d ask his parents why he was born that way. When they were too exhausted to answer his persisting questions, he'd direct them to GOD and ask why He created him disabled.
As Nick grew, he became aware of the pitying gaze that people bathe him in every time they saw him.
He began to see himself as a mistake, as an object of sympathy.
One day he tried to take his life by drowning in the bathtub. It was during that suffocating moment, when everything faded away and the room seemed to collapse on him that his life changed forever.
"What if GOD wanted me to be an inspiration to millions of people in despair," Nick thought to himself in that tub and positively changed his mental image.
He summed up his life inspiration with these words, "I can either complain about what I don't have or be grateful for what I do have.'
Nick Vujicic's story is one that truly helps us to reach down to the depths of our potential and push on when everything seems gloom, dark, and hopeless.
His is the story of a man who turned his predicaments into his strength.
Nick Vujicic now goes about speaking and inspiring thousands of people all over the world.
He teaches us of the power of perspective: blame GOD for what we don't have or thank Him for what we do have.'
His story proves to us that our mindset can influence and determine the outcome of our lives.
Imagine for a second if Nick was born in Nigeria, a country where people with disabilities become the perfect candidates for begging.
He'd have been paraded in a wheelchair going from park to park, school to school, garnering sympathy and collecting petty donations.
Instead of becoming a beggar, a pity magnet, this man without arms and legs is now the owner of an evangelistic ministry and runs his own company.
Nick also found love and is married to a beautiful wife and blessed with four wonderful kids.
Now, if a boy without arms and legs and a supposed bleak future can become a man who travels the world inspiring people, what predicament might you find yourself in that may make you think all hope is lost?
There is nothing as powerful as the human mind that is determined to stake its existence in achieving a noble cause.
The situation of things around you does not matter, what matters is your mindset and your perspective.
When you are ever in doubt of your worth or your value, draw some inspiration from Nick Vujicic.
Forget what you don't have and be grateful for what you do have. Pick yourself up, and start again.
I leave you with some of Nick’s quotes. Use them as a beam to light the way when you find yourself in the bleak and inky darkness of life:
"Put a GO in front of DISABLE, and you have the words, “GOD is able.”
"If you can't get a miracle to become one."
"In life, you have a choice: Bitter or Better. Choose better. Forget bitter."
"It’s a lie to think you are not good enough. It’s a lie to think you do not have value."
"FAITH: Full Assurance In The Heart."
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