A Life with Purpose (Takeaways from Nick Vujicic's Limitless Possibilities)

“Just because I have no arms and legs, it doesn't mean I'm limited.”

- Nick Vujicic

Nicholas James Vujicic has this rare condition called Phocomelia, but this has never stopped him to become a world-renown evangelist and motivational speaker. There is such beauty in the absence of his limbs. There is a purpose in his condition.

Last July 29, Nick flew to the Philippines to share his story and bring inspiration to Filipinos through his event entitled "Limitless Possibilities". One of my closest friends and I were privileged to watch him live in Araneta Coliseum during the afternoon session of his event.

Nick started his talk with “I'm just like you.” Those simple words could mean a lot. It means we can relate to him. We are like him, maybe not physically handicapped, but have our bunch of weaknesses making us seem “less capable.” As Nick related his life principles and experiences, I have learned a couple of lessons that I would like to share with you.

“There is no such thing as chance or coincidence,” Nick declared. God has our lives planned and set for His purpose. Nick, having no limbs, has lived his life according to how God has destined to use him for His glory. Nick has never let his circumstances become hindrances for him to fulfill his destiny. He emphasized that the way we handle our circumstances is just a matter of perspective. We can choose to complain or be thankful. We can choose to have FAITH or to have FEAR. He echoed a bible verse, faith is to believe in something we cannot see; and fear means False Evidence Appearing Real. “There is a greater purpose we cannot see,” Nick mentioned. We tend to focus on our problems rather than on our purposes. And, we often forget that “miracles could come from broken pieces.”

I love what Nick said, “Who is better to tell you your purpose and identity than the One who created you?” He also quoted a bible verse on the latter part of the program about the blind man whom Jesus healed, “Jesus answered, ‘Neither hath this man sinned nor his parents: but that the works of God should be made manifest in him.’” (John 9:3) Nick, without arms and legs, has seen that he has a destiny to fulfill. With strong conviction, he declared that we don't try to fulfill our destiny, we will never reach our goal. He said, “Courage is not when you're not afraid. Courage is when YOU DO IT when you're not afraid.” It is a call for us to TRY, and to be not afraid to fail. And when we do fail, all we need to do is to get up and try again, try harder. And, we'll get better as we try harder.

“Many successful people start from zero.” Nick shared his story on how he has become a speaker. It started when a simple janitor in the school encouraged him to try to speak in front of students. It took three months of convincing and chasing by the janitor before Nick gave in and decided to give it a try. And when he did, a lot of people have been touched, moved, and blessed by his story and his faith. And as he tried to make motivational speaking his profession, he began calling schools to offer his service. He contacted them one by one, 52 schools rejected him; on his 53rd try, it was a “YES!” But, it was an epic fail for him for he was just paid $50 for a five-minute talk when he travelled for two hours to go forth and two hours to get back and he had to pay his brother $50 for driving for him and another amount of money for the fuel. With this failure, Nick got discouraged. However, when he was about to give up, God had begun opening doors of opportunities for him to speak up which reached around 35,200 invitations as of this writing.

Nick reminded us that in whatever we do, we should do it with all of our hearts. For as long as our hearts, minds, and spirits yearn to do it, let us do it mightily one step at a time. Other people may discourage and criticize us but we should never let them derail us from the purposes we have in our lives. Quoting Nick, “Take off my tongue, take off my ears, strip off my nose, and burn my face; but they can't touch my spirit. They can't touch my heart. They can't touch my mind.”

If we don't get the miracle we want, we can still be a miracle to someone else. We have our purposes and we can still make a difference. Going back to the janitor who pushed Nick to be someone he never thought he could be, that person has made a big impact in his life. That janitor has made Nick realize his worth and how God can use him. And Nick said, “When you find real hope on the truth of your value, on the truth of your purpose, that's when you become UNSTOPPABLE.” As he also said, sometimes, we are the greatest hindrance to our greatest success. We have to get out of our way, and we should have faith! For him, his faith in God and his prayer life are very important. And he also emphasized that we should do everything in love.

Nick's challenge to us as he ended his speech, “And if I, without arms and legs, can reach out to be the hands and feet of love, of truth, and of faith, then we all can help someone.”

Nick Vujicic's message is very simple yet so powerful: 1) We should know our purposes and identities. 2) We should be not afraid to try to fulfill our purposes. 3) Failures and discouragements may come, but we should always strive to try again and try harder. 4) We should help someone as much we can.

It is amazing how God can use a man without limbs on inspiring people to dream, hope, try, succeed, and fulfill one's purpose in life.In the latter part of his speech, Nick repeated, “I'm just like you.” And so, if Nick can, we can too!