Silly Old Bear

I remember as a child hearing someone tell a joke (and probably repeating it myself) that went something like this:

• “What do you call a kid with no arms and no legs?”
• Answer: “First Base!”

Nick Vujicic (pronounced Voy-a-chich) probably heard lots of jokes like that growing up. Nick was born in December of 1982 in Melbourne, Australia. He was a healthy, happy, beautiful baby. There was just one problem. Nick was born with no arms and no legs. He was the kid we all joked about in third grade. Except, when it’s real, it’s not very funny at all.

As one would expect, Nick faced a lot of hardships and struggles as a child. Other kids made fun of him and bullied him. It got so bad that at age 10 he contemplated suicide. Even though his parents were missionaries, he had a hard time believing in God.

Then something inside him changed. As a young teenager, Nick began to see his disability as more of an opportunity than a handicap. He realized that, even though there were people who made fun of him, there were many others who admired him and looked up to him. He began to see his potential to motivate other people who have also been dealt a difficult hand in the game of life.

Today, Nick Vuyicic travels the world speaking to audiences of all sizes, inspiring them not to give up when life comes crashing in. “There are some times in life where you fall down, and you feel like you don’t have the strength to get back up.” It’s not the falling down that defines who you are. It’s the getting back up. In Nick’s words, “It matters how you finish. Are you going to finish strong?”

__________

SOURCES:

Photo Information:
Photo of Nick Vujicic by Andy Mihail .
Photo source: http://www.flickr.com/photos/andymihail/3410661437/ .
Used in accordance with Creative Commons License: CC BY-NC-ND 2.0 .

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This entry was posted by Paul O'Rear on Wednesday, January 6th, 2010 at 7:23 AM. If you would like to keep track of Comments on this post left by other Silly Old Bear visitors, you can do so through the RSS 2.0 feed. You are invited to leave a Comment. Pinging is currently not allowed.