Meet Nick vujicic

Meet Nick Vujicic… Born in 1982 in
Melbourne, Australia, without any
medical explanation or warning,
Nicholas Vujicic (pronounced Voy-a-
chich) came into the world with neither
arms nor legs. Having had an
uneventful pregnancy and no family
history to expect this condition,
imagine the shock his parents felt
when they saw their first born, brand
new baby boy, only to find he was what
the world would consider imperfect and
abnormal. A limbless son was not what
nurse Dushka Vujicic, and her husband
Pastor Borris Vujicic had been
expecting. How would their son live a
normal happy life? What could he ever
do or become when living with what
the world would see as such a massive
disability? Little did they know that this
beautiful limbless baby would one day
be someone who would inspire and
motivate people from all walks of life,
touching lives all over the world.
Throughout his childhood Nick dealt
not only with the typical challenges of
school and adolescence such as
bullying and self-esteem issues; he also
struggled with depression and
loneliness as he questioned why he
was different to all the other kids
surrounding him; why he was the one
born without arms and legs. He
wondered what was the purpose
behind his life, or if he even had a
purpose. After a lot of frustration and
feeling like the odd one out in school,
at seven years of age Nick tried out
some specially designed electronic
arms and hands, in hopes that he
would be more like the other kids.
During the short trial period of the
electronic arms, Nick realized that even
with them, he was still unlike his peers
at school, and they turned out to be
much too heavy for Nick to operate,
effecting his general mobility quite
significantly.
As Nick grew up he learned to deal with
his disability and started to be able to
do more and more things on his own.
He adapted to his situation and found
ways to accomplish tasks that most
people could only do by using their
limbs, such as cleaning teeth, brushing
hair, typing on a computer, swimming,
playing sports, and much more. As
time went by Nick began to embrace
his situation and achieve greater
things. In grade seven Nick was elected
captain of his school and worked with
the student council on various fund-
raising events for local charities and
disability campaigns.
According to Nick, the victory over his
struggles throughout his journey, as
well as his passion for life can be
credited to his faith, his family, his
friends and the many people he’s
encountered during his life who have
encouraged him along the way.
After school Nick went on with further
study and obtained a double bachelor
degree majoring in accounting and
financial planning. By the age of 19,
Nick had started to fulfill his dream of
encouraging others by sharing his story
through motivational speaking. He
found the purpose of his existence, and
also the purpose in his circumstance.
Nick wholeheartedly believes that there
is a purpose in each of the struggles we
encounter in our lives and that our
attitude towards those struggles that
can be the single most effective factor
in overcoming them.
In 2005, Nick was nominated for the
“Young Australian of the Year” Award,
which is a large honor in Australia. The
award honors a young person for their
excellence and service to their local
community and the nation, as well as
their own personal accomplishments.
Nominations for this award are only
given to truly inspirational people.
Now at 27 years old, this limbless
young man has accomplished more
than most people even twice his age.
Nick recently made the massive move
from Brisbane, Australia to California,
USA, where he is the president of an
international non-profit organization,
and also has his own motivational
speaking company; Attitude Is Altitude.
Since his first motivational speaking
engagement back when he was 19,
Nick has traveled around the world,
sharing his story with millions of
people, speaking to a range of different
groups such as students, teachers,
youth, business men and women,
entrepreneurs, and church
congregations of all sizes. He has also
told his story and been interviewed on
various televised programs worldwide.
However, Nick’s speaking engagements
have gone beyond purely motivational
speaking, he has had the opportunity
to speak with several leaders, including
the vice president of Kenya. This year
alone Nick is set to speak in over 20
countries.
People ask Nick, “How can you smile?”
Then they realize there’s got to be
something more to life than meets the
eye if a guy without arms and legs is
living a fuller life.
Nick shares with his audiences the
importance of vision and dreaming big.
Using his own experiences in worldwide
outreach as examples, he challenges
others to examine their perspective
and look beyond their circumstances.
He shares his view of ceasing to see
obstacles as problems, but instead
begin to see them as opportunities to
grow and reach out to others. He
stresses the importance of how attitude
can be the most powerful tool we have
at our disposal and illustrates how the
choices we make can have a profound
effect on our lives and the lives of those
around us. Nick shows through his own
life that the major keys in fulfilling our
biggest dreams are persistence and
choosing to embrace failure as a
learning experience, rather than
allowing the guilt and fear of failure to
paralyze us.
How does Nick Vujicic feel about his
disability now? He accepts it, embraces
it and oftentimes pokes fun at his own
circumstance as he shows off his many
tricks. He meets challenges with his
special blend of humor, perseverance
and faith always encouraging those
around him to examine their
perspective as they develop and define
their vision. Using those new definitions
he challenges each person he meets to
make changes in their lives so that
they can begin the path to fulfilling
their biggest dreams. Through his
amazing ability to connect with people
from all walks of life and his incredible
sense of humor he captivates children,
teens and adults alike, Nick is a true
inspirational and motivational speaker.
More at http://www.attitudeisaltitude.com