"Thank you!" "Thank you very much!" "Good morning everybody." "Morning!" "How you doing?" "Good" "You all fine?" "All sweet?" "Yeah." "Nice to see you!" "My name is Nick Vujicic and it's a pleasure to be with you." "i have a wheelchair over there, it's my BMW 7 series." "i'm going to take it to Pimp My Ride and get some spinning rims on it." "And you know those fully pimped cars with hydraulics and stuff?" "You know how they bounce around and stuff?" "i want to get my wheelchair bouncing!" "Like if i can cross the road and go "boom boom boom"." "it's really cool driving that thing around." "i have no arms and no legs and i was actually born this way." "And there's no medical reason why this has happened." "So i have no limbs but i have a little chicken drumstick." "We call this a little chicken drumstick because first of all it looks like one and second of all sometimes my dog thinks it's one." "And i tell you, man, it's so funny, he comes up to start biting on it and i have to hit him in the head a couple of times." "it's nuts man." "it's so cool man, i love to swim as well and i actually float like a life jacket." "i float upright like this and then i have my little motor down here and i go "whirr" and that's right." "it's so funny when people see me for the first time. it's so cool." "Kids freak out." "You know what i'm saying?" "i tell you this little boy came up to me and he goes, "What happened?" "!"" "And i went up to him and i go "Cigarettes!"" "And there was this one girl who saw me and she goes "Mommy look!" "it's an alien!"" "So i went up to her and i went "Raaahh!" and she went "Ahhhh!" you know?" "And i'm running after her saying "i'm going to eat you!" you know?" "Freaking her out." "So with my little foot, i can also write." "This is my pen here." "i can actually write and type with my foot and i learned how to draw and all this sort of thing so that's pretty cool." "i've learned how to type 43 words a minute on a normal computer" "Sort of a like a heel and toe, heel and toe combination and i'm learning sign language with my foot." "i'm learning it." "Ready?" ""Peace!"" "is that cool?" "Very cool." "Anyway, look!" "We're going to have some fun today and i'm just going to tell you the funniest story of all, it's so funny." "i was in a car one day and when you see me from the outside of a car, you have no idea that i have no arms and no legs." "Right?" "You just see my gorgeous face." "And we are at the traffic light one day and this car comes up next to us and this girl is looking at me and i'm like," ""Cool!" "Let's have some fun here." "So i know that she has no clue that i have no limbs." "So i look at her and i grab the seatbelt in my mouth and i loosen it like this and then in the car seat, i just did this." "And she was like, she was like, "You're freaking me out, man!"" "it's very cool." "Anyway, i have a couple of things to show you." "i play drums." "Do you believe me?" "i actually play drums!" "i get the drumsticks in my teeth... i'm just joking!" "Now, look, i have a drum machine up here and we're just going to... so what it is basically?" "it's a pad basically and there's like sixteen buttons." "And so each button represents a sound, right?" "So i'm not pressing "play" or anything like that, alright?" "You see my foot?" "Alright." "it's like, serious, okay?" "Ahhhh..." "You like that?" "Well then... so that's sort of more like your rocking or pop or whatever." "but then you've got the uh uh." "Can we have some more volume please?" "Give me some more uh uh juice," "Right, so, here we go, so it's like..." "You like that?" "Wouldn't it be really cool if i could get this on my wheelchair and play it while i'm driving?" "And get some techno going like, here we go... one, two, three, four!" "Yeah!" "Hey, you like that?" "Yeah!" "is that cool?" "Yeah!" "Beautiful!" "So i have a tennis ball here and i just want to show you how far i can kick this thing." "And a lot of people are freaking out and wondering "How can you do that?"" "and you know i just want to show you it's really, really cool." "Can i have a volunteer, please, to catch a ball for me?" "Uh, let's see..." "let's see, let's see..." "Sure, i'll get you." "How're you doing?" "Yes, see my finger pointing at you?" "Stand up." "How you doing?" "Beautiful." "What's your name?" "Jake." "What is it?" "Jake." "Jake?" "Nice to meet you, Jake." "Now can i get you to do me a favor?" "And probably just go up that way - see my finger pointing up that way?" "Now just go up that way a little bit." "Can you guys make a little bit of a path for him to go in amongst the crowd a little bit?" "Beautiful." "Now just face me, Jake." "Now i just want to show everybody how far i can actually boot this thing." "i'm a big fan of David Beckham." "i love David Beckham." "i love it how he curves that ball and so i'm practicing." "You know what i mean?" "So, i'm just going to maybe get you to move back." "Keep on moving back." "Keep on going back, back, back." "Keep on going back, back, back, back, back." "i'm joking, bro!" "i can't kick that far!" "Come forward, it's all good!" "i'm just joking." "Alright, right there is good." "Right there is good." "That's a pretty big kick, so i'm going to take a little bit of a run up here." "So, uh, let me just... just uh... just... just..." "Whoa!" "i'm just joking!" "it's all good!" "i just wanted to see if i could get you scared a little bit!" "Alright, here we go!" "Are you ready, mate?" "Now when you get this ball, don't throw it back because i can't catch!" "You understand me?" "Alright, you ready?" "Here we go." "When you get this ball, just come up here on stage. is that cool?" "Ready?" "One, two..." "Look at that!" "Jump up, mate, on this side!" "Beautiful!" "Now, Jake, are you having a good day today?" "Yeah" "Good!" "i'll get you to hold that for me, beautiful!" "Now, wait, wait!" "i'm not done with you yet, bro!" "Alright?" "i'll just get you to stand here and face the crowd?" "So uh... anything new happen in your life today?" "School?" "How's school?" "Boring?" "Learn anything, No?" "No..." "Did your homework?" "No?" "Alright, cool." "So, here we go." "So i want to just be real with you." "There's a cool game i want to play with you if that's cool?" "i'm going to get your right hand on the table, alright?" "That's a cool ring." "i got to get me one of those, get a toe ring, you know what i mean?" "One day , i'm going to get a wrist watch, too." "Anyway, just put the whole hand on here." "Beautiful." "Now, what we're going to do is we're going to play a game called "Slappers." Okay?" "Now, i don't know if you know what this game is but basically i'm going to slap you, okay?" "And if you.. when i go like this, you've got to move out of the way before i get you." "So it's a race between your hand and the chicken drumstick." "Alright?" "So, what's going to happen is, you've got five shots, okay?" "And if i miss you once out of the five, you win!" "Does that make sense?" "You only got to beat me once to win." "Okay, you ready?" "You said you were having a good day today, yeah?" "Okay that's good." "That's going to change." "Okay, man?" "i'm joking." "Ready?" "Are you scared?" "You're not scared?" "Ha ha ha Alright." "Alright, you ready?" "Number one." "So when i go like this, you go like." "Exactly." "Okay?" "You've gotta be quick, though!" "Okay, ready?" "Number one..." "Ah!" "Alright?" "That's number one!" "Number two..." "Woop!" "Number three, alright?" "Okay, i'll make it easier for you." "i'll even look away and i'll close my eyes." "Okay?" "Now, is his hand still there?" "i've done this a couple times so you can't cheat on me, alright?" "Now, i'm going to close my eyes," "your hand's there. is his hand there?" "Yeah." "Alright, you ready?" "Alright." "Number four!" "i'll let you win." "Okay?" "Wooooooo!" "Alright, give me a hug, man. i love you." "Give him a round of applause, guys!" "Thanks so much, Jake." "Alright, real quick, i've got a phone up here." "it's not my cell phone but it's a normal phone." "i just ripped it off the wall." "i'm going to actually show you how i can actually flip this phone onto my shoulder, it's very cool so it's actually not always guaranteed that it's going to happen the first time." "So what happens when you fail?" "Try again!" "Very good." "So can someone give me a sound for a ringing phone, please?" "Ring, ring!" "Thank you, thank you." "i'm coming!" "Ready?" "Hey!" "is that cool?" "Awesome!" "i want to talk about like when i started to go to school and stuff and a lot of people put me down, you know what i mean?" "A lot of people tease each other." "i mean, people come up and say" ""Hey!" "You're fat..." You know?" ""Loose some weight!"" "And you go home and you look at yourself in the mirror and you go "Ah!" "i'm fat!" right?" "And so many people tease each other." "You know?" "You're too short, you're too tall, you look... whatever!" "Different hair and all that - it doesn't matter!" "See, the thing is, when you're in school," "When you're growing up in life it actually sort of matters to people how you look." "And then it matters to you because it matters to others." "Why?" "Why does it matter how you look?" "Because if they don't like you, then who will?" "if they don't accept you, then who will?" "And the fear that we have is that we're going to be alone." "That we're not good enough and you know, we have to change ourselves." "And so many people put me down and said" ""Nick, you look too weird, and no one's really your friend and you can't do this and you can't do that."" "And i couldn't change anything." "it's not like i was fixing my hair one day and everything was fine." "it's not like, you know...just whatever, i couldn't change my circumstance." "i couldn't just one day wake up and say" ""Hey, give me arms and legs." "i need arms and legs."" "You know what i mean?" "Like... you go to a body builder and go "Can you make me some arms and legs?"" "No, i'm just joking!" "Body builder?" "You get it?" "Alright?" "This is, hey!" "i go up to people "can you give me a hand?" i'm just joking!" "But it was so hard because people put me down." "And i started believing that i was not good enough." "i started believing that i was a failure." "That i would never ever be somebody who people would like, people would accept." "And it was so hard, man, i thought to myself," ""You know, i can't go on the soccer field like everybody else." "i can't ride my bike and i can't skateboard and all these sort of things."" "i started getting depressed." "i thought, "What kind of purpose do i have to live?"" "i mean, are you just here to live to die?" "i mean, is there not a purpose for me?" "is there not a purpose in life?" "And i had questions and no answers and i asked my mom and dad "Why did this happen?"" "i asked doctors, "Why did this happen?" They don't know." "There are some things in life that are out of your control that you can't change and you've got to live with." "The choice that we have, though, is either to give up or keep on going." "i want to ask you, what are you going to believe?" "Are you going to believe in yourself or are you going to believe everybody else's judgment on you?" "Are you going to believe people when they say that you're a failure?" "That no one really likes you." "That no one really cares about you." "And it's not really to say that you need somebody to come up to you and say "Hey, i really like you and i really care about you."" "it's not about that." "But it's the fact that people put you down." "People don't even look you in the eye." "People ask you how you are and you say "Fine"" "but you're not really fine and they'll never know that." "i tell you life is interesting." "Life's a journey." "You see this phone here?" "Let's say that i want to go to the phone." "Right?" "And i start from over here." "Now to get to the phone, it's not like i'm going to start meditating and going "hummmm" Right?" "And float across the air." "Right?" "That's not going to happen." "That's not going to work." "it's not like i'm going to go "hummm"" "and "wooo," you know?" "it's not going to work." "So i have to take one step at a time, one step at a time, one step at a time." "You can only take one step at a time." "i don't care how big your step is, it's still only one step at a time." "You can't do two steps in one." "You understand?" "So it's like one step at a time." "You take steps in this direction and you take steps in that direction and you sort of get lost along the way and sometimes you fall down." "Now to illustrate my point, i'm going to jump off the table, do a back twist and land on the floor." "Okay?" "is that cool?" "Are you ready?" "Oh, is the clock down there?" "Can you move the clock for a second, please?" "Beautiful." "Beautiful." "Alright!" "You ready?" "So, uh, are you guys ready?" "Just let me know when you're ready." "You're ready?" "Ready." "One... two... i'm joking, man." "Are you serious?" "Just put the clock back there." "if i did that, i'll break my arm or something!" "You know what i mean?" "But honestly, along the way, you might fall down like this." "Alright?" "You ready?" "Hello!" "So what do you do when you fall down?" "Get back up!" "Everybody knows to get back up because if i start walking, i'm not going to get anywhere." "But i tell you there are some times in life where you fall down and feel like you don't have the strength to get back up." "So you sort of put a mask on your face and come to school and pretend that everything is okay when it's not and you go home and lay in your bed when no one's looking at you," "when you don't have to impress anybody and you're yourself." "And fear comes in" "You know the fear that you have as soon as you walk into the doors of your house?" "Maybe it's a broken home." "Maybe you have doubt in your life." "Maybe you don't know for sure what's going to be happening in the future and it scares you." "Maybe you're worried about what people think of you, what people say about you." "Just that fear that paralyzes you and i just want to ask you today, do you think you have hope?" "Because i tell you i'm down here, face down, and i have no arms and no legs." "it should be impossible for me to get back up." "i mean, you go home and tie up the legs and arms of your brothers and sisters and like, push them down and see how long it's going to take them to get back up." "You know what i mean?" "You know you can tell them that you'll see them tomorrow, you know what i mean?" "But this is the thing - it should be impossible for me to get back up." "But it's not." "You see, i will try 100 times to get up and if i fail 100 times - if i fail and i give up, do you think that i'm ever going to get up?" "No." "But if i fail and i try again?" "And again and again?" "For as long as i try there is always that chance of me getting up." "Does that make sense?" "And it's not the end until you've given up." "And just the fact that you're here should persuade you that you have another chance to get back up." "There's still hope." "i'm not here today to tell you that i understand your pain." "i don't know how it feels to be abused." "i don't know how it feels to feel quote "fat" or you've got an eating disorder." "i don't know how it feels to have a broken home." "i don't know how it feels." "But i know how it feels to have a broken heart." "And i know how it feels to be alone." "And i want you to know that i've found my strength in Jesus Christ and you're going to find your strength in whatever you find it in." "But i just want you to know that it's not the end." "it matters how you are going finish." "Are you going to finish strong?" "And you will find that strength to get back up, like this." "How did i get from depressed to who i am today?" "Because i tell you, i was depressed." "When i was age 8, i used to concentrate on the things i didn't have." "i wished that i had arms and legs and i wished i could do this but what can i do?" "You see i have a choice?" "And this is what i want to talk about today - choices." "i can either be angry for not having arms and legs or i can be thankful for my chicken drumstick." "You see, i can still do a lot of things " "At home i can brush my teeth, i can comb my hair, get myself ready in the morning!" "i'm traveling around the world - it's amazing!" "But i had to ask myself a couple of questions." "And the first question was really "Who am i?" "Who am i?"" "i'm Nick Vujicic." "But who is that?" "And it's funny how the friends around you sort of determine who you are." "You change yourself." "You come to school and everybody swore around me in high school so i started swearing." "Why?" "Because it's the cool thing to do." "Everybody swears." "So i didn't want to be left out and i wanted to be accepted so i started swearing." "You go to a party and everybody's drinking so you drink." "Why?" "Well, everybody else around me is doing it, big deal!" "And you start losing yourself and you start putting your security in temporary things." "You start putting your happiness in things that won't last." "You can get drunk all you like but in the morning you're going to be sober with a headache with the same problems." "You want to be high the rest of your life on drugs?" "Everybody says "Don't do drugs!" "Don't do drugs!"" "Well, why?" "Why do we even go there?" "Because out of curiosity, peer pressure, or trying to escape reality." "Basically." "Three things." "That's why we go to drugs, sex and alcohol." "Why do you do it?" "Because it feels good." "Okay." "That's how we do it. i mean, you want something?" "You go get it." "You want to buy something?" "You save up money and you go get it." "Why?" "Because that will make you happy." "And we take these steps in the wrong direction that will actually take you away from your dreams." "Oh, don't worry, Nick." "Drugs and alcohol won't take me away from my dreams and my purpose and sex and all that, no!" "But i tell you, it actually will." "Because you go to a level of drinking and you go to a level of drugs and it's not enough." "You'll find that out." "Then you try something new." "And you'll also go to school and people will put you down and parents will tell you that you're a failure because you failed at a test." "And you start believing the lies around you saying that you're not good enough and no one's going to want you and you'll never do anything good in your life and you'll never, ever achieve the dreams and goals" "that you wish you had done." "Or wish that you could do." "And these steps take you closer to that voice saying" ""You're not good enough." "You're not good enough." "You're not good enough."" "And all you need is one more step for the fall." "See, you have a choice to know which step you're going to take today." "Let me ask you - do you know who you are?" "Do you want to know who i think you are?" "You care about what your friends think who you are." "You care about their opinion." "You want to know about who i am?" "You want to know what i think you are?" "i'll tell you right now." "i don't care how you look." "Honestly!" "if you're 400 kilos i'm going to come up to you and give you a hug and say that i love you!" "i don't care if you're fat, short, tall, thin." "i don't care, man!" "i really don't care how you look." "i don't care what you're good at." "i don't care what you're not good at." "i don't care if you like rock and roll music or not." "i don't care!" "i don't care!" "i don't care if you're a good mathematician or good athlete or not good at anything that you think." "But i'm going to come and tell you that you're awesome just the way that you are." "i know so many teenagers who look at themselves in the mirror and wish that they had a different body." "Girls - you're beautiful just the way you are!" "You're gorgeous!" "You're gorgeous!" "i love you just the way you are and you boys?" "You are the man!" "Because it's not how you look!" "When you see me for the first time, many of you felt sorry for me." "Do you feel sorry for me any more?" "No." "Why?" "Because you know who i am!" "But don't you remember i have no arms and no legs?" "Would you want to be my friend?" "Of course you would!" "Why?" "Because you like who i am!" "But i have no arms and no legs and you're going to say "So what?"" "So when you say "Well, i have this" or "i don't have that,"" "i'm going to go "So what?" "i don't care!"" "You are worth more than diamonds." "All the diamonds in the world, you are so precious." "Every single one of your hearts," "You can do something, not just something that you can do, but something you can live, Life!" "Life is not always good." "Life is not always rosy." "Life is worth living when you find purpose." ""Nick, i don't know what my purpose is." "i don't know." "My parents want me to do this." "My teachers want me to do that." "My friends think that i should do this and i don't know what to do!"" "And you're torn, man!" "You don't know what to do." "You have to make important decisions, man, and you don't know what to do." "Who do you believe?" "Follow your heart." "if that's who you want to be, if that's what you want to do in life," "then walk to it." "One day at a time." "That phone might feel so far away." "in fact it might seem impossible for you to reach that." "Let's say that phone was all the way at the back of the room." "How am i going to get off this table?" "i can't." "How am i going to get there?" "i can't." "But i want you to know that nothing is impossible and if it is impossible for your dreams to come true let's say you want to be a pilot and you can't become a pilot for some reason," "maybe your eyesight or maybe your height." "i know somebody that couldn't be a pilot." "They're doing something now that they actually love to do." "See, all things come together for the good." "That's how it is in my life." "You see, there's nothing good about having no arms and no legs, is there?" "No." "if i click my fingers, metaphorically speaking, and your arms and legs just disappeared, do you think you'd be happy with me?" "No." "You'd come run after me and head butt me." "Okay?" "Because there's nothing good about having no limbs." "But i love my life!" "Do you want to know why?" "Because i've seen the purpose." "Because i have no arms and no legs, you're all listening to what i have to say." "This is maybe the most attentive you've been in any guest speaker because everybody else is boring and what would they know anyway." "That's what you think, don't worry, i was at school too!" "Like, what do you know?" "i didn't care what many people had to say." "They have no idea what i'm going through!" "What pain do they know?" "But you see me and you see what sort of pain i could go through." "What i've gone through." "And all of a sudden now i'm seeing all of you and maybe for the first time you're believing these words out of a mouth saying "i love you."" "And you don't even know me but you actually believe that i DO love you." "You see it's an unconditional love." "You don't have to do anything for me to love you, i just love you." "Why?" "i don't know." "Because i just love you." "Why?" "it's love. it's unconditional love." "Not only is it about you and your life, but what about the people around you?" "You know, if you think that you have no purpose " ""Nick, i don't know what i want to do!" "i wish i could do this but i don't think this is going to happen in my life"" "Let me tell you this." "So many people come up to me and said" ""Nick, i don't have a purpose." "i don't know what to do in my life."" "Let me ask you one thing, if you went through your life full of pain, full of tears, and at the end of your life, you actually save somebody's life, is your life worth living?" "is the pain worth someone's life?" "if you could actually save somebody?" "Can you imagine?" "if you actually saw somebody nearly get run over by a car and you dive and get them out of the way of the car?" "For instance - an example, would that be worth living?" "You've saved somebody's life. i don't know." "What about this?" "Let's say you have a problem in your life." "And you want to give up now." "Can you imagine if someone ten years older whose gone through the exact same thing that you have - actually gotten through it and came to you and said, "You know what?" "i know how it feels. i've been there!" "i've been going through what you're going through now." "But i'm still here."" "Would that not encourage you?" "Could that possibly save your life?" "Yes." "is that not a purpose worth living for?" "And that's why i believe in you because that is the greatest purpose!" "it's to love!" "Honest!" "it sounds corny - whatever you want say, i don't care!" "i love people because there is freedom and power in loving people!" "You have a choice every day you come to school to either tease somebody, gossip about somebody," "or you can go up to them and encourage them." "You can go up to somebody and say "Hey, you're looking good today."" "When you ask them how they're doing and they say "Okay" and you know they're not okay, you can say "No, really... how are you doing?"" "You can save somebody's life." "Aw, really, Nick?" "No, i don't think so." "Check this out." "i was six years old, grade 1, and twelve people teased me - i counted them all on my fingers - twelve people teased me" "and at the end of the day, at ten to three in the afternoon, i said, "i can't do this." "if one more person teases me today, that's it. i'm going to give up."" "And i'm driving in my wheelchair - my BMW 7 series - to my parents, right?" "And there is this one girl who yells out "Hey Nick!"" "i'm thinking "Great." "Here it is."" "She comes to me and she says "Nick, i just want to know that you're looking good today." And i'm like "Ohhh..."" "The power of encouragement." "You can save a person's life." "i tell you. i was walking, man, this way" ""You're not good enough, people telling you no one loves you, there's nothing good in your life, you can't do this, you can't do that, no one's going to want to marry you" and all these sort of things" "and you get to the edge and all i needed was that one more person to tell me that i wasn't good enough and i'd be down there." "Do you know that you could be that one person for somebody else to push them over?" "You don't know how many people have eating disorders in this school." "You don't know how many people want to hurt themselves in this school." "They hide it." "You don't know how many people hate their life." "And you're one of the reasons." "Why ?" "Can you imagine that?" "Serious." "Why?" "Just because you want to have fun." "Grow up." "Grow up." "i dare this school not to tease another person for the rest of the day." "i dare you. i dare you." "Do you think it's possible?" "People say, "Well, i won't do it but everybody else will."" "Be the change you want to see." "And you be that person and turn them around." "This school should have every person having a friend." "You see some person having no friends?" "Why don't you go up to that person and be their friend?" "Because you're scared of what people will think of you." "Let's do it!" "Let's wake up!" "Embrace it, man!" "Let's live!" "i love my life!" "Nothing's stopped me!" "Am i happy all the time?" "No!" "No!" "i'm not happy all the time." "i'm not happy!" "i cry sometimes." "Not because of no arms and no legs." "This is easy!" "i'm talking about the things in life that, other things that i'm stressed about, that i'm anxious about." "The person that i love, they're hurting and i can't do anything about that." "That's what kills me." "We're all going through something." "We're all trying to find that something..." "that happiness." "You can find it." "Because i found it." "Check this out!" "You need to learn something?" "Do you know for you to learn something it was actually learned by somebody else and anything that anybody else learns, you can actually learn?" "Makes sense, right?" "How did you know this is black?" "Because someone taught you it was black." "Why?" "Because someone learned that this was black and you were able to learn that this was black by someone teaching you." "Nothing's really beyond your reach." "You understand what i'm saying?" "But we're not all good at math, we're not all good at athletics, we're not all good at maybe telling colors...big deal." "Find what you love to do." "i love loving people." "i love encouraging people, man. it's great!" "The greatest business in the world." "Saving people's lives. i love it." "But we're not all going to be speakers, we're not all going to be doing the same thing." "That'd be crazy." "What do you want to do in your life?" "is there something more to your life?" "Because i found something more to my life and i believe it's God and you want to know Him too, then that's fine." "i love you guys so much." "i love you very much." "The choices are yours." "i made a choice to keep my virginity until i'm married." "Because it's proof beyond words that my wife was worth waiting for." "Do we make wrong choices?" "Yes, we do." "And are there consequences for bad choices?" "Yes there are." "i could talk another half an hour on consequences of drugs, sex and alcohol but i'm not here to lecture you." "i'm not here to say not to drugs." "Not to do all that stuff." "Look." "but don't believe you know everything about it either." "What i don't know won't kill me - right?" "That's what they say, right?" "That is stupid." "How dumb is that?" "Let's say i've got a brain tumor and i don't know it - is that going to kill me still?" "Yeah." "Duh!" "idiot!" "Of course!" "Look at me and my life." "i've made choices and this is how i am." "This is where i am and i love it." "You know what's cool?" "Sorry..." "Just getting the seat organized." "That's better." "Put my feet up, you know?" "i want to talk about my wife." "i'm not married." "i don't know who my wife is yet." "Right?" "That's okay. i know she's coming." "That's fine." "She's coming." "Just because you have no boyfriend, girls, that doesn't mean that you're not beautiful and that you're not loved." "You don't need a boyfriend." "You don't need to use your body as security to make you feel that someone needs you." "My wife is coming." "And i may not have hands to hold my wife's hand, but i don't need hands to hold her heart." "And that's all i want to hold." "i tell you - a real man would wait." "A real man would not put your life in danger." "if you're not 100% sure that you're going to be together for the rest of your life - that's why i haven't had sex because i don't know who i'm going to marry yet." "Why sleep around with everybody else?" "it's so silly..." "Why?" "Just for temporary pleasure?" "No man!" "it's beautiful to know that i've only shared that with my girl." "MY girl." "And i'm her guy. i love that." "We're going to have children together, i know that." "And how am i going to hug my children when they're crying?" "i used to get depressed whenever i'd think of that." "What kind of a father am i going to be?" "Check this out." "There was a girl, she's so cute, man." "You know, one of my friends' daughters." "And she was 2.5 years old and she had this pink flowery hat on and pink shoes on." "She was about my height as well." "And she came and she was hugging everybody goodbye at this family function and she comes to me and i'm sitting on the floor and she was just looking at me." "And i'm like "Cool..."" "She's just staring at me and i'm like "Okay..." "What can a 2.5 year old honestly be thinking about?" "This is so weird."" "And she's just looking at me for about 25 seconds and then she realizes something." "Like this little light - bing!" "You know?" "it came to her." "And she realized that i had no hands to hug so when she came up to me to hug me, she put her hands behind her back" "and she hugged me with her neck." "i know!" "isn't that more beautiful?" "So beautiful?" "Why am i here?" "To tell you this:" "That i love you." "That everything's going to be okay." "Not to say that i am going to be with you every day to tell you that." "Not to say that i understand what you're going through but that today i have come here so that you would remember my smile." "And you'd remember what i said." "You have a choice to either uplift somebody or put someone down." "You either have the choice to step towards your goals and dreams or to step away going to temporary things." "You have a choice to either give up or keep going." "Give up or get up." "When you fail, try again, and again and again." "i want you to close your eyes, please!" "if you don't want to close your eyes, that's fine, just stare at the floor." "Don't talk to the person next to you, please." "i want to ask you 'how are you'?" "What heaviness are you carrying?" "What tears do you hold back?" "What pain, what fears are kept inside?" "You don't have to hold on to those fears if you just take one step at a time." "Not to say that one day those fears are going to completely disappear but... can you forgive those who have hurt you?" "Because that's where healing starts." "Every time someone puts you down, will you make a decision to bring somebody else up?" "Picture yourself in an open area where there are no buildings and no shelter and there's a storm above you." "And this storm represents the situations in your life that you don't tell anybody that you're going through because first of all, they wouldn't understand and second of all, they can't even help you, anyway." "You're in this storm and you're down on your knees and you're cold and you're weak and you feel like this is the end." "Are you not still here?" "You are still here!" "You don't have to do this alone." "You can talk to counselors." "You can talk to people you trust." "You can talk to whoever you want to talk to but i talk to Jesus." "But hold on to that person who you think might help you and imagine them right now saying that they can't stop the storm right now but they will hold you and keep you warm until the storm passes." "Because when they hold you, the storm is still there but it's okay." "Because they're with you all the way." "Think of your friends." "You look them in the eye and you know that maybe they're not really that happy." "You go to parties and you just look them in the eye and you know that they're hurting as well and everybody is just trying to cover it up." "Can you lift somebody today?" "Make the choice today to do something good." "Hold on to that hope." "Open your eyes." "Look at me." "Tears clean the windows of your soul." "That's why you feel good after crying." "And i'm here today to hug you." "i'm a hugging machine." "And if you want a hug, i'm gonna in a couple minutes, get up off this and go to a table on the side - there's a table round the corner behind this camera and i want to hug you" "and i want you to hug me like you've never hugged before." "Because there is healing in hugging." "And i want you to know that i love you guys so much." "Don't give up." "And know that there is always someone out there who believes in you and who loves you just the way that you are." "This is exactly what this school needed because teenagers at this point in their life, they go through trying to find out who they are and you never really get to find it out." "Other people can't tell you who you are, you've got to find it out for yourself and you've got to be able to respect yourself and learn to love yourself before you can change your environment and that's really been helpful with what Nick said." "it's told, Nick's told kids it doesn't really matter what you look like, it doesn't matter what you smell like, it doesn'tmatter what color eyes you have or if you have braces or anything" "it just matters what you are on the inside and that person is who everybody SHOULD be seeing and if they're not seeing it then you should be looking for someone else." "You should be looking for someone who does see who you are on the inside and who does love you." "Thank you for giving me this opportunity to speak into your life and to share with you my story." "i hope you've been challenged and inspired to never give up, and i believe that you have been touched." "i'd love to hear from you." "Write to me!" "i enjoy reading so many people's testimonials on how my life has impacted theirs." "So please write to me or email me." "i also want you to know that there is a book coming and a series of DVDs so be on the lookout for that." "if you see me on the street face to face, make sure you come up and say "Hello!" and give me a hug." "i'd love to meet you." "Remember, there is ALWAYS hope." "NEVER give up!" "Hi everybody!" "Hi Nicky!" "How're you doing?" "Good!" "That's good!" "Everybody give yourself a round of applause." "Coming on, real loud!" "Alright!" "So, you all having a good day?" "Yes!" "Good stuff!" "Nice to meet you." "My name is Nick Vujicic and as you can see i have no arms and no legs." "But i have my little chicken drumstick here and this thing, man, i can actually use to drive my wheelchair and write and type on a normal computer." "Who's got a computer at home?" "Cool!" "i can actually type 43 words a minute on a normal computer and it's really really cool!" "And i've got so many things to share with you today!" "We're going to have a bit of fun!" "Who is ready to have some fun?" "Alright!" "So what i'm going to do now is... i'm just going to show you a little bit about my wheelchair and this is really really cool." "You see this seatbelt of mine, this is my seatbelt and then you lock it in?" "Right." "And then this little thing right here, it's got a little joystick over here, right?" "So when i go forward, it goes forward and when it goes back, it goes back." "When i push it back, it goes back." "So, let me just show you how i drive it." "Would you like to see that?" "Yes!" "Okay, you don't have to sit up." "Just watch me come up..." "i'm going to come up the aisle, right?" "And then i'm going to go back." "You wanna see me reversing?" "Yes!" "Beep beep beep beep beep!" "You wanna see how fast this thing goes?" "Yes!" "Alright." "So i'm going to take a little bit of a run up here... beep beep beep..." "Alright." "Are you ready?" "Yes." "Really fast!" "All ready?" "You wanna see it again?" "Yes!" "Up the aisle, hold on.." "i saw you. it's all good." "You ready?" "Beep beep beep..." "Hey. i've got a horn!" "You want to hear it again?" "Pretty cool!" "Now you want to see me jump around?" "Yes!" "Because outside i take this around - this is how i get around - but when i'm in my house i don't really drive this around a lot." "i actually get out and so i can actually put the seat down like this - it goes all the way down to the floor which is really really cool - and then i unbuckle myself like this and i can actually jump out." "Now do you want to see how far i can run?" "Yes." "Or how fast i can run?" "Yes!" "Alright - you ready?" "Just stay down..." "You ready?" "Okay... ready?" "On your marks, get set." "Are you ready?" "On your marks, get set," "Go!" "Watch out, i'm going to come in here!" "i'm just joking!" "it's all good!" "Alright, here we go." "We're going to come back." "Alright..." "Here we go." "Now what i'm going to do is... i'm actually going to jump from my wheelchair onto the table." "Do you think i can do that?" "Yes!" "i can't, i'm just joking!" "What i'm going to do is i'm going to get Mr. Craig to put me on the table..." "Everybody say "Hi Mr. Craig!"" "Hi Mr. Craig!" "Alright... so, now he's just going to give me a little hello!" "Alright." "Beautiful." "Alright!" "So the first thing i want to show you is really really cool it's with my chicken drumstick i can actually..." "This is called my chicken drumstick - did i tell you why i call this my chicken drumstick?" "i don't think so." "i call this my chicken drumstick because first of all it looks like one and sometimes my dog thinks it's one!" "And so every now and then my dog comes and he starts biting on my foot and i'm like smacking him in the head a couple times, that's right!" "So my chicken drumstick is pretty cool and i have two toes on it so i can do the peace sign and then i have my other little one..." "Hello!" "And that one just sits there, it doesn't do much." "But with this foot - with this one - i can actually write." "This is my pen!" "So i can actually write quite neatly with my pen so that's really cool." "And, so i've learned how to write." "Do you guys like drawing?" "Anybody like drawing?" "Yes!" "i love to draw!" "So that's pretty cool!" "Alright." "So what else can i show you?" "Would you like to see me write with my mouth?" "Yes!" "Cool!" "Let me just get Miss Jeanette up here... everybody say "Hi Miss Jeanette!"" "Hi Miss Jeanette!" "Okay, so what i'm going to do is... i'm going to write a little note to your school." "is that cool?" "Yes!" "And i'm going to draw some pictures for you with my mouth." "is that cool?" "Yes!" "And you can keep it in your office forever so that's going to be very very cool." "Alright?" "Here we go." "We'll probably start with blue?" "How's that?" "Anybody like blue?" "Yes." "We'll leave red for last!" "Here we go!" "Ready!" "So..." "You've got the school called what?" "Pottsville Beach Public School?" "Alright, here we go, ready?" "That's pretty long." "Here we go." "How do you spell "dear"?" "There is Dear..." "OK. i'm going to say i'm going to write a little message." ""n-e-v-e-r ..." "What does is say?" "Ever" "Very good," "Everybody read that sentence." "Never ever give up." "OK!" "That's it, here we go." "We're going to do... how about i draw for the boys a red motorcycle?" "Yeah." "Alright - doing a mono?" "A wheelie?" "Yes." "Here we go." "is that cool?" "Yes." "Alright!" "And for the girls, how about i do a purple flower?" "Yeah!" "Yeah i love flowers!" "i love flowers!" "Alright... cool..." "Are you ready?" "Here we go." "is that cool?" "Yeah!" "Alright!" "Then at the bottom... i'm going to put Love, Nick." "is that cool?" "Yes." "Alright." "What's the day today?" "16th." "16th of what?" "June." "What year?" "2007" "You like that?" "Yes." "Alright!" "Thank you!" "Alright, very cool!" "So we're going to give that to your principal and you guys can keep that in your office, is that cool?" "Yes." "Alright." "Well, guys, i want to share with you a couple more things." "is that cool?" "You want to see more tricks?" "Yes!" "Alright." "The first thing i want to show is that... i've actually got a tennis ball up here." "Let me bring that up to the front here..." "Now do you like soccer?" "Yes." "i love soccer!" "Who really loves soccer?" "Me!" "i love soccer!" "Man." "i tell you - i'm trying to practice this kick and i'm getting really good at it and you know i reckon i could show you how far i can kick." "Would you like to see how far i can kick?" "Yes!" "Because i've been practicing and you know practicing makes perfect, right?" "Yes!" "Alright." "So i was wondering if i could have a grade 6 student to catch a ball for me ?" "Where are our grade sixes?" "Alright, here we go." "Probably have you in the blue shirt - wait a second, there's two of you - the one behind, yes, that one - beautiful!" "Woah!" "Both of you - alright." "So you both saw my fingers pointing at you?" "Alright. i'll get you." "Sorry mate!" "What's your name?" "Jamie." "Jamie, Nice to meet you," "Jamie, How you doing today?" "Good." "Good." "So, Jamie, i'm going to get you to do me a favor." "Yeah, probably walk up there - you know." "Maybe not there." "if i can get you to go over there where Mr. Craig is," "Go back around there." "Beautiful!" "i want to show everybody how far i can kick this." "You know what?" "i gonna warm up a little..." "you know what?" "Jamie, if you could maybe come back up, i gonna have a little kick first." "Got to warm up a little bit, you know?" "Alright, so... yeah." "Yeah, that's pretty good." "Let me just kick it." "Ready, ready to catch?" "When you get it, just bring the ball back." "Alright?" "Don't throw it back because i can't catch." "Okay?" "Alright... so, here we go ready?" "One, two - are you going to count with me?" "Ready?" "One... two... three!" "Very nice!" "Very good!" "Put the tennis ball right here." "Alright!" "Now i feel pretty warmed up... so if you can go on back..." "back back back..." "is that a pretty big kick?" "Yes!" "A little bit more" " Back back back alright, beautiful, alright - that's a massive kick!" "Alright!" "That's a pretty big kick..." "Do you think i can do that?" "Yes!" "Well, if i don't do it, what happens when you fail?" "You try again." "Very good!" "So what am i going to do is... i'm going to move this out of the way because i'm going to need a little bit of a run up here... so move back a little bit... move back a little bit... a little bit... a little bit... a little bit..." "just a little bit... a little bit... whoa!" "i was just joking!" "i'm just joking i wanted to see if i could scare you a little bit!" "Alright, Jamie, you ready, man?" "Alright so when you get this, mate, just come back up on stage and we'll play a little bit of a game." "Here we go." "You ready?" "Ready?" "One..." "You're going to count?" "Wait... no, let's do it again got to warm my feet here, ready?" "Alright, count me in." "Ready?" "Go!" "One... two... three!" "Alright!" "Beautiful!" "Awesome!" "Jamie!" "Can i.. do you want to play a bit of a game with me?" "One more thing?" "You want to come up here, mate?" "i want to show you something... not a game but i want to show you a drum kit..." "Just jump up on that box there." "Perfect, just face everybody." "Cool. i just want you to see this thing and i want you to show them that i'm not actually cheating or anything." "Alright?" "This is my drum machine up here alright?" "Do you see lots of buttons up here?" "Yeah" "OK." "So there's a couple lights and basically what's happening is as each button is pressed, it makes a sound." "Alright?" "Am i pressing"play"?" "Am i playing that?" "Yeah?" "So every sound is made when i press a button, right?" "You wanna have a go?" "Perfect." "There you go." "Hit it hard..." "Alright?" "So when he presses it, it makes a sound... is that cool?" "So i just want to show you that just to make sure because when you go off stage, i'm going to play a couple of tunes." "is that cool?" "Play a little bit of drums, is that cool?" "Well, thank you very much for your help." "Give me a hug, mate!" "i'm very appreciate it." "Give him a round of applause guys..." "Alright, now what's going to happen is, i'm going to show you what i can do, alright?" "So as i press the button..." "is that too loud?" "No." "Alright, so i want you to actually clap a little bit." "Clap with me." "Ready?" "Wait, wait, wait." "Ready?" "Very good." "Ready?" "That's cool, huh?" "Yeah?" "You like that?" "You ready?" "Faster!" "Faster fast fast fast !" "Faster fast fast fast !" "Faster..." "Woooo!" "You like that?" "Yes!" "And then there's like a couple of cool things... like... it's a cool kick." "Oh, you like that?" "Yes." "You know, like techno?" "Anybody like techno yet?" "You like rhythm?" "You like that?" "You like that?" "And there's a little "boop boop boop."" "You like that?" "You like that?" "is that cool?" "And then i've got a couple of bass guitars and stuff so it's really really cool." "You like that?" "i can actually make a little music." "Who likes music?" "Me!" "i love music!" "So, did you like the drum machine?" "Yes!" "Did you want me to do a little rap for you?" "Yes." "Alright..." "Let's have a look at this." "Alright, so what would you like me to rap about?" "Give me a subject - give me anything, anything in the world?" "How about me and you?" "Yes!" "Alright?" "Ready?" "You like that?" "Alright, Cool!" "Here we go, this is better." "Ready?" "i like that." "Ready?" "Like that?" "You like that?" "So here we go..." "So i was coming to Pottsville Beach Public School." "Seeing everybody, Speaking...." "Hello, Everybody, my name is Nick." "Never give up when it gets hard." "you either give up or get up." "And i say hey you are special." "Never worry about what people think of you." "Because you are special special special" "Yeah !" "Everybody go Yeah." "Yeah." "Yeah yeah yeah!" "Alright, You like that?" "Yes." "Alright." "Give yourself a round of applause, guys!" "i've got one more thing to show you and it's really cool this ball is coming down," "This is really, really cool actually." "This is a phone. i have a phone up here." "Now, is this a mobile phone?" "No!" "Alright, i just pulled it off the wall, This is really cool!" "This is a normal home phone, right?" "And i want to show you guys... how i can actually flip this thing onto my shoulder." "i think this is a really cool trick and it doesn't always happen the first time but what happens when you fail?" "You try again!" "Very good!" "So can some one give me the sound of a ringing phone, please?" "Yeah!" "Keep it going..." "Ready, ready, ready?" "Ready?" "i'm coming!" "Let me come over here so you can all see..." "Ready?" "i'm coming!" "Ready... one..." "Two... three!" "Hey!" "is that cool?" "Yes." "You like that?" "Awesome!" "Now i want to talk a little bit about my life and how school was." "Because, you know, a lot of people think that... school sometimes is hard because it is!" "You know, you're not good at everything and there are also hard situations at schools because people tease you." "Who's been teased before?" "Alright." "So i want to talk about teasing." "is that cool?" "Can i talk about teasing today?" "is there anything good about being teased?" "No." "if there's nothing good about being teased then why do people tease each other?" "Put your hand up if you can tell me why people tease each other." "You in the blue shirt up the back, sweetie... yes?" "Yes, they want attention and they think they're cool." "Up here in the front?" "Because they think it's fun." "So there are many reasons why people tease each other and we know that it's not good to tease but what can we do when people tease us?" "What are the coolest things that we can do?" "Yeah, man?" "Tell a teacher...what about the one in front of you?" "Yes?" "Walk away." "And what else can we do?" "We can ignore them." "Very good answer!" "Very good answer !" "So, we can ignore them, we can walk away, we can tell a teacher." "Who else can we tell apart from our teacher?" "Yes?" "Alright, so you can go to the person and say, "Hey stop it!" "i don't like what you're saying!"" "Now are these all good ideas?" "Yes!" "But do they always work?" "No." "i've found something that will always work." "You want to know what it is?" "it's the coolest thing of all." "When people tease you, all you need to do is love yourself." "And you're probably thinking "Eew!" "Love yourself?" "!"" "Now i don't mean for you to get up in front of the mirror every morning and look at yourself and go "Mmmm, i am so beautiful!" "Oh, look at my hair!" "i'm so good looking!", Alright?" "But to know that you are special just the way you are." "i want you to say "i am special..."" "i am special..." "Just the way i am!" "Just the way i am!" "And so we all have differences." "i look different to you." "Some people are taller." "Some people are shorter." "Some people have blue eyes, hazel eyes, brown eyes, purple eyes." "You have purple eyes?" "i've seen some green hair and different hair, right, but this is the coolest thing." "We're all different, aren't we?" "But it's okay to be different. isn't it?" "See when you saw me for the first time, maybe you felt sorry for me." "Who felt sorry for me when they first saw me?" "Right?" "Do you feel sorry for me now?" "A little bit?" "Do you think i'm cool?" "Yeah!" "Yeah?" "Why?" "Because you've seen who i am and who i am matters more than how i look Does that make sense?" "Because i tell you, man, there were many kids who saw me for the first time and they teased me." "And i have so much fun sometimes when kids see me for the first time." "There was this one little girl who saw me one day and she said "Mommy look!" "it's an alien!"" "So i went to her and went up to her and went "Raaaahhh!" and she was like "Aaaahh!"" "i went running after her saying "i'm gonna eat you!" You know?" "But you see, when people see me, you like that one?" "When people see me for the first time, it's hard to see that i'm cool because all you see is that i have no arms and no legs." "And so when people tease you, i want you to know that you're specia just the way you are." "You don't have to change a thing, i don't care if you're in a wheelchair, i don't care if you're taller," "A lot of people think you know you tease each other because maybe you're thin, or maybe you have some weight on, or maybe your hair looks funny, or maybe your eyes look funny." "it doesn't matter how you look." "i want you to know that i love you just the way you are." "i believe in you." "i reckon that you guys are awesome just the way you are!" "Every single girl, i want you to know that you are beautiful!" "You're beautiful just the way you are!" "And you boys!" "You are the man!" "i want all the girls to say "i am beautiful!"" "Come on, now ALL the girls - say "i am beautiful!"" "i am beautiful!" "And all the boys say "i'm the man!" -i'm the man!" "And everybody says "i am special..." -i am special..." "Just the way i am." "Just the way i am!" "So when people tease you, don't worry about what they say." "Because you are special." "Something else i want to talk about is that we all know that we're not all good at math or we're not all good at money and we're not all good at everything." "But when we fail, we try again !" "You see this phone here?" "Let's say i want to go and touch the phone." "Okay." "Now, to go and touch the phone, how am i going to get there?" "i'm going to walk there." "it's not like i'm going to meditating and going "Ahhhmmmm"" "and start floating, right?" "i'm not going to float." "And i'm not going to say to the phone "Here, boy, come on!"" "You know?" "The phone's not going to come to me, is it?" "So i have to go to the phone." "So i take one step at a time." "One step at a time." "How many steps at a time?" "One step at a time." "But sometimes you might fall down like this." "Now what i'm going to do is i'm going to jump off the table and do a back twist and jump on the floor. is that cool?" "Alright, so... are you ready?" "You're not ready?" "Just let me know when you're ready." "All ready?" "One... two... three!" "i'm joking man!" "if i did that, i'll break my arm or something, alright?" "i have no arms!" "You're right. i forgot." "Alright." "Here we go." "So, here we go." "Are you ready?" "Now along the way you might fall down like this here we go - are you ready?" "One, two, three..." "Hello!" "So what do you do when you fall down?" "You get back up." "Everybody knows you get back up." "Because if i stop walking, i'm not going to get anywhere." "But i want you to know that sometimes in life, you fall down and you feel like you have no strength to get back up." "You know, maybe you had a bad test at school, or maybe you didn't do so well at something and people are coming up to saying "hey, that was bad."" "And you know what?" "You get discouraged you don't want to try again, because just in case you'll fail again." "it's not nice to not be good at something." "But you know, when you fall down you can get back up !" "Now, it should be really hard for a man without arms and legs to get back up when he's fallen down." "i mean, go home today and tie your hands and feet up and fall down and see if you're going to get up." "Yeah, it's going to be pretty hard, isn't it?" "You know what?" "Life is hard sometimes." "Sometimes you come to school and people ask you how you are but you don't really tell them how you are." "Sometimes at night you get sad." "Maybe something's happened in your life and you don't know what to do." "And i know what i can do." "i have good friends around me and i have good parents to help me through my hard times." "Maybe you don't believe in God but i believe in God and i pray to Him and i believe He helps me." "i just want you to know today that when you fall down like this, you can get up." "You see, if i try a hundred times to get up and i fail a hundred times, if i give up, do you think i'll ever get up?" "No." "So you gotta keep on trying." "Does that make sense?" "Alright." "So, this is what i want you to see." "Now i'm actually going to get up." "Are you ready for this?" "This is really cool." "Hello!" "Ready?" "Count with me..." "One..." "Two..." "Three!" "is that cool?" "So i want you to know that sometimes you want to give up" "but never EVER give up!" "Say "never!"" "Never!" "Ever!" "Ever!" "Ever!" "Ever!" "Give up!" "Give up!" "Very good." "Never ever give up." "So what happens when you fail?" "You?" "Try again!" "Very good!" "Very good!" "Now i want you to do something for me, alright?" "i want you to think of today." "Have you teased somebody today already?" "Mmmm?" "Maybe... who's been teased today?" "Alright." "Put your hands down." "i want you to know something really cool." "You know what?" "When i was six years old, i was much younger than you, when i was six years old, there were people teasing me all the time." "And you know what happened one day?" "There were twelve people who teased me in one day." "And i felt really sad." "i thought "Why do people keep on teasing me?"" "And i thought to myself, "You know what?" "i want to give up!" "if one more person comes to tease me today, i'm going to give up."" "And you know what happened?" "Just before the school bell, i was next to my classroom and i was actually walking back, well not walking back, i was driving in my wheelchair, right?" "Back to where my mom was going to pick me up after school and on the way to the car, there was a girl who said "Hey, Nick!"" "And i went, "Oh no." "Not another one."" "And she came up to me and she said," ""Hey Nick, i like your smile." "You look good today."" "And i'm like, "Oh that's cool, man!"" "i'm like, "That's so cool!"" "And then all of a sudden when that one person said that i was okay, when that one person accepted me, i didn't care what the other twelve people thought." "Does that make sense?" "Sometimes all you need is one person to believe in you." "All you need is that one person to say" ""hey you know what?" "You're gonna be okay."" "And i want you to know that i want to be that person for you." "When you go through sad times, i want you to remember my smile," "Ready?" "Alright?" "And am i always happy?" "No." "You see my foot?" "We all go through ups and downs." "Ups and downs." "Right?" "Woo... right?" "We all go through ups and downs." "But i want you to know when you feel like giving up, don't give up because you are special and i want you to know that you can do something special in your life." "And it's so awesome to be able to actually encourage somebody." "when people tease you, don't tease back." "When people hit you, don't hit back." "You gotta be the most smiley one." "But i'll tell you right now, if you want this school to have people where they're not teasing each other, then you be the person not to tease." "Does that make sense?" "You be the person to stand up for people who are being teased. is that cool?" "You be the stronger one." "Alright?" "i want to ask you today, what did you learn from me today?" "Put up your hands." "What did you learn from me today?" "Yes..." "Never give up." "Everybody say, "Never!"" "Never!" "Ever!" "Ever!" "Give up!" "Give up!" "Very good!" "What else?" "That's right." "Stop teasing people." "it doesn't matter how you look, it's who you are!" "Does that make sense?" "Because i look weird, but am i really weird?" "No. i'm cool!" "Who thinks i'm cool?" "See i'm pretty cool, why?" "Because it's not how i look, it's who you are!" "Alright." "Very cool." "Now, let's have all the girls say "i am beautiful!"" "i am beautiful!" "All the boys say "i'm the man!" -i'm the man!" "And everybody say "i am special..." -i am special..." "Just the way i am!" "Just the way i am!" "Now we could write a song!" "We could write a rap!" "Yes, sweetie...." "Very good!" "...." "Everybody's different and it's okay to be different." "Very good!" "Yes, man?" "Very good." "What happens when you fail?" "You try again!" "Very good!" "in the blue shirt - yes?" "That's right!" "it doesn't matter how many people tease you, you always have friends to help you." "And i want you to know something." "i found out what the secret of what a true friend is." "Do you know what a true friend is?" "Someone who accepts you no matter what." "They don't care about how you look." "Those are true friends." "Does that make sense?" "Someone who will accept you for who you are." "So when others don't accept you, we need to go back to our true friends because they'll help us." "Up the very back, did you have something?" "Anybody up the back?" "No?" "Not yet?" "Yes, you with the bandanna." "i'm beautiful and i'm special." "That's right!" "You sweetie?" "Exactly - it's not your appearance, it's your personality that counts." "Up the very back?" "That's right." "When you go down, you get back up." "Yes...." "You are the man!" "Ready ? "peace" brother!" "Woo!" "That's my "peace" sign." "Show me your "peace" sign." "Here's "peace" with a chicken drumstick." ""Peace!" That's pretty cool!" "Hey, can i teach you one more thing?" "Because you guys are really learning a lot today, aren't you?" "Alright?" "i want to see if this makes sense to you." "You see that i have no arms and no legs and i have a choice to either be angry for not having arms and legs and be angry for all the things i can't do or be thankful for my chicken drumstick." "Or be thankful for the things that i can do." "Does that make sense?" "Yes!" "So, everybody say "i am thankful!"" "i am thankful!" "Very good, appreciate it much!" "i was on the beach one day, and i had my chicken drumstick under the sand, and i was just sitting there watching the waves come by, and this lady came up to me, and she must have thought that i had my hands inside my shirt," "because she said, "That's quite impressive!" "How long did it take you to bury your legs in the sand?"" "See, she had no idea that i had no legs." "And so i said "it took me a long time to bury my legs in the sand!"" "And then she said "Goodbye" and i said "Goodbye"" "and she started to walk off and i was waiting for her to look back at me, and when she looked back at me, i just started walking like this... and she's like... it was really funny!" "Really funny." "You want to see me open a book?" "Yes!" "Cool, cool." "This is a phone and we don't need the phone any more, do we?" "Let me just kick this off." "Alright." "Let's see now." "This is my book, right?" "My favorite book, it's really cool." "This is how i open the book and this is how i turn pages." "Like that." "if i need to get one single one, i get a little bit of the corner like that and i go like that. is that cool?" "And i can also close the book at the end, too." "Like that." "What i would like to take time to do is to let you know that i am hugging machine." "Now many people don't like to hug me and that's okay." "Maybe you want to come up and shake my chicken drumstick." "Or maybe you want to come up and give me a high five on my shoulder." "Just don't knock me down, okay?" "Nick has shown us he is a strong man and a person with a heart of gold." "Therefore, we'd like to present Nick a Pottsville hat and a medallion." "Aw, sweet." "Thank you for coming to our school, Nick." "Thank you so much!" "Whoa, that's cool, man!" "This is cool!" "Yeah!" "Ready ready ready?" "i'm on top first... uh, uh, yeah!" "Alright!" "Give them a round of applause, guys!" "Thanks so much guys!" "Come on, you can do better than that!" "Alright!" "Beautiful!" "For some of our boys and girls today it's probably the first time in a long time when they've had an adult tell them that they love them and the first time when someone has told them that they love them." "That is very special and that's very, very empowering." "Nick's visit has been part of our annual " Speak Up Day"" "when as a school community, we stand up and make a stance against bullying and we say it's okay to be different." "What Nick has done for us is he's actually celebrated being different, he's celebrated being special and that's just been wonderful!" "And i really think that Nick should be a mandatory part of every school curriculum and if any families, people out there, boys and girls in schools anywhere can get a chance to hear and see Nick, grab it with both arms!" "My name is Nick Vujicic and as you can see i have no arms and no legs." "But i have my little chicken drumsticks down here." "And i was born this way there's no medical reason why this had happened." "And there are many times in life when things happen and you don't understand and it's out of your control." "And i talk about choices in life i talk to the kids about what are you going to believe" "Are you going to believe that it's Ok to give up or are you going to get up" "And just knowing that we all have problems we all you know get teased at school" "You know you don't have to have no limbs to get teased at school, you can have a crooked nose, you know how it is." "At school everybody teases everybody." "And it's so hard i guess as parents i'm not a parent, i'm not married, i do not have kids." "But i know many parents that have a struggle" "Trying to convince their kids not to worry about what other people think of them" "You try to convince your daughter that they're beautiful." "You try tell your boy that it's OK that he's short, it's Ok that he can't play basketball like everybody else." "And this is why i love my life because i'm being used as a unique and powerful tool for people of all ages." "To give a fresh perspective" "And thing is your daughter won't believe you that she's beautiful but she'll believe me when i tell her she's beautiful." "To hear an outside adult say something and not just another teacher or not just another speaker, because i know, when i was in school." "i don't know about you but when you were at a seminar or something and you know you see someone with arms and legs up on stage and you think what kind of message is this going to be." "When he or she talks about struggles, you're going to think well they don't know what i am going through." "They don't know anything about your life and what do they know about pain, you know." "Thing is when i get up on stage everybody sees that i've gone through something, some pain." "And automatically i have the 100 percent attention of all students and it's amazing to see that and so," "Today i spoke to all the kids here over two sessions." "And talked about bullying and self esteem, dreaming big and never giving up basically." "and just gave them a couple you know cool tricks, like kicking a tennis ball around and showed them how i drew with my mouth." "And how i have a pen here and showed them this" "This is how i actually write with my foot down here and i can actually write and draw and all that i've actually learnt how to do typing on a normal computer 43 words a minute." "i've done a double degree in accounting and financial planning, i'm real estate investor, i'm stock market investor, i'm motivational speaker, preacher and evangelist." "i've spoken to 1.7 million people face to face across 12 nations in the last 4 and a half year." "it's been amazing and i love my life and you know one of the things i talk to students is that can you be thankful." "You know, can you be thankful." "i have to have a choice of either be angry at the fact that i had no arms and no legs or be thankful that i have my chicken drumstick" "Or be thankful that i had you know my BMW 7 series." "You know i'm going to take that to pimp my ride and get some spinning rims on that" "And get a sub woofer on that that would be pretty cool." "You know we have a choice to be thankful, either to.... you know, give up or keep on doing the best with what you've got." "i also told the students that it's not about being good at everything but you know, basically doing your best." "Just because you fail at something it doesn't mean you're failure." "And just because people tease you doesn't mean that it really matter how you look, because it's not how you look, it's who you are." "And so just their basic values and principles actually change perspectives of lives." "i was just talking to some teachers who heard some feedback from some kids and one boy said "Nick's give me confidence"" "You know, for a five or six years old to say that, you know, to say that word and know what that means, you know, i don't know... there was one little boy who came up to me, and said" "Nick "you're more of a man that i am"" "and i'm like WOW!" "Now he's 6 years old you know it is just amazing." "They are going to talk about me for the next 2 weeks, you are going to see it when they get home, you know, they're going to talk about it." "That's why i love my life is because i've found purpose." "And what i talk to many adults about is about purpose, finding your purpose." "And teenagers these days you know they get caught up in drugs sex and alcohol." "And they're trying to find their happiness and security in temporary things of how they look, who they associate themselves with, what they do and what they don't do." "And i talk about happiness and if you put your happiness in temporary things," "Your happiness will be temporary." "And so these are the key, you know sort of boundaries that i've seen in my life." "And gave me a new perspective." "You know that old saying where you have a glass halfway filled with water... it's either half empty or half full." "You know i love my life i actually would not change a thing because i have found my purpose." "You see there's no joy in having no arms and no legs but there's joy in the purpose of your circumstance." "i mean what good could possibly come out of a man being born without arms and legs?" "And i want to ask you today, what would have to happen in your life for you to look back after 80 years of pain tribulation and trials..." "To look back and say, it was worth it." "What would actually have to happen?" "Let me ask you this, if you save one person's life... one person's life" "Would your life be worth living?" "Yes, of course." "Why?" "because that one life might be your child." "That life might be quote "you" if it's somebody else." "And what i want you to know is to never underestimate the power of your influence on your children." "Do not ever underestimate the power of your influence on your children." "Because yes that are they're going to go through different scenarios and different seasons in life where they won't listen to you and they' ll rebel against you, angry about you and challenge you." "And you're going to try see that the boundaries sort of shift as they grow up." "And i see in my life how my parents have treated me and what influence they were on me." "i tell you there were some things that happened at my school that my parents never know about..." "People telling me you know, that i'm not good enough and you know, i used to cry at times and tell them you know what name people would call me..." "But i tell you there were things that my parents did not know about..." "And kids are not always good at hiding things but they get older they will be able to hide things better from you and close the door and put a do not disturb sign." "How was school? "fine"..." "What did you learn? "nothing'...." "How was school? "boring"....." "What did you do? "nothing"..." "What did you learn? "nothing"..." "What's new? "nothing"..." "Can i play computer?" "... that sort of thing." "And you sort of start to doubt your influence upon your kids but i want you to know that you are the largest influence on your children's life...period." "The second adult influence that they have are their teachers..." "That's why i talk to a lot of teachers about how important their purpose is" "Because there are many parents who are too busy" "How you doing? "busy"" "What's being going on?" ""i don't know but i've been busy"" "You know we're all busy doing something... getting up... going to work..." "making money." "Why?" "Because you need to provide finances and food on the table." "That's how it is that's how this life is." "You get caught up in the routine and you forget about what's important." "You sort of feel like you're caught in between a hard place and a rock." "And it's just... it's difficult to actually sit down with your kids and have time with them." "And you used to kiss them at night you know and tuck them into bed or read them a story or something like that." "But i tell you, life is a journey and sometimes you're not going to see the influence in your kids' life." "But i want you to know that it's there and my greatest influence was my parents." "and i am thankful that my parents cared enough for me." "You see, i was born this way and there's no medical reason why this had happened." "And doctors can't still tell me today why this had happened." "But i'm so thankful for my parents who accepted me just like any other child." "Raise me up, gave me positive influence all the time." "You know we've just got to be real with our kids." "You know when i came back from school crying about people teasing me and putting me down ..." "My parents said "Don't worry about what they say, just don't worry about they say..." "try ignore them, try ignore them."" "But i couldn't ignore them." "i was actually one of the first disabled students to be integrated into a mainstream school in Australia." "And i have all the attention on me and a lot of people would tease me and put me down." "You can't ignore it, you can't ignore it." "But you can be that person in their life that security of knowing that they can always come back to you." "And you'll always love them for who they are and not how they look." "Or not how good they are or not what they are good at or what they are not good at but that unconditional love." "i am thankful that i was raise up in a whole home... my parents are still married and there are many broken homes in today's society." "it's hard to relate to kids, but i just want you to know to be encouraged." "That's all, that's all i've got you here for to do today just to come here and ask you to be thankful for today." "Today when you go home you've got your children, because there are things in life that disappear every now and then." "Things that happen in your life that you don't understand ." "Life is a journey, you see let me give you this example." "i've got i did this for the kids." "Let's say that life is a journey, right?" "and i want to go to the phone OK." "i want to go to that thing and i start from here." "Now, for me to get there, i've got to walk there, it's not like i'm going to start, you know, meditating and go hummm right and start floating in the air or anything like that... but i'm going to take one step at a time, one step at a time, one step at a time." "And there are times in life when along the way you fall down and you have no strength to get back up." "Just to illustrate my point... i'm going to jump off this table do a back twist and land on the floor, OK, it that cool?" "You ready?" "Ready?" "One.. two.." "i'm joking mam, are you serious?" "Haha.." "if i did that i would break my arm or something.." "it's good, just breathe, it's alright, alright." "So on the way you might fall down like this, ready?" "So what do you do when you fall down?" "You get back up, everybody knows to get back up." "it makes sense cause if you start walking... you're not going to go anywhere." "But here are times in life where you fall down and you feel like you don't have the strength to get back up." "Sometimes, you just don't know what to say to your kids any more." "Sometimes, you don't know what to tell yourself any more." "We all have a fear of being alone." "And there are two things in life that as human beings that we always want to hear the first thing is that you're loved." "And the second thing is that everything is gonna be OK." "And you know i was told those two things by my parents all the time." "And i'm thankful for that." "But i had a hard time believing their words when they said everything's gonna be OK." "Because they don't know what i'm going through, they don't know my pain, they don't know how if feels to be in my shoes." "Metaphorically speaking." "But it is the thing that it they did not tell me that everything is going to be OK, then, who would?" "if they did not tell me that i was special the way that i was, then, who would?" "if they did not tell me that there was hope, then, who would?" "it is so important to be that support for your children." "Because sometimes, all that they have is you." "And whether they believe you or not keep on telling them that they' re beautiful." "Keep on telling them that everything's gonna be alright." "They'll want to believe you hard to believe you, but they will." "They will at least have that support knowing that security is there." "And i just want you to know that may be today you are down." "And it should be impossible for a man without arms and legs to get back up, honestly." "i mean tie the hands and feet of you kids up tonight, push them down and see if they're going to get up, right." "Tell them you will see them tomorrow." "That thing is this though, that if i try 100 times to get back up and if i fail 100 times." "if i decide to give up, i'm never going to get back up." "And this is one of the things that i told your kids." "i told them when you fail, try again." "When you fall down, get back up!" "Don't give up, get up!" "There is hope for you today, just because you're here today." "Cause, you have choices today that you can make." "You can go to the shops today and either put a smile on your face at the cashier." "Or you can be grumpy and get frustrated because you're late." "You can either get home and be stressed because of life and get all the things done that you need to get alone but never hug your kids." "You feel like your relationship with your kids get further and further away." "All we can do is our best guys that's all we can do..." "Do your best." "And i just want you to know that when you are down, you will find strength to get back up." "i found my strength in Jesus Christ and you are going find your strength in whatever you find it in." "But i want you to know that it is not the end when you fall down. it's is not the end." "it is not where you are, it's how strong will you finish." "And you will find the strength to get back up like this." "That's pretty cool!" "it's amazing to see how independent i am at home, i can brush my teeth, comb my hair, jump inside the pool." "i can do all these sort of things quite independent at home." "i love my life because i've found the greatest purpose of all and that's to love, it is to give hope, it is to encourage." "And even if i have only encouraged one person today, my job is done!" "i love it, i have a new perspective in life it's not about the money." "it is not about the house, it is not about the car." "Even though these things, yeah, sure, you will find security in them, you life is made more easy, and you want to protect your kids, you want to give them the best future, you want to give them every opportunity you can to achieve their goals and dreams." "Sometimes, it does get hard." "But i just want you to know that i love you... i love you." "There are many parents who don't feel appreciated." "i don't know if you are parents felt appreciated." "There aren't too many kids who say thank you Mom just because they want to say thank you Mom or thank you Dad." "They normally say "thank you mom, i love you very much, now, can i have this?"" "That's how kids are." "But i can tell you, you are appreciated by me." "Because when i'm gone, i am not here to encourage your kids any more." "i want you to know this as well, you might be tired, you might be exhausted, you might not feel that you have that purpose in your life yet." "But just because you can't see hope yet, it does not mean it is not coming." "You see, no one goes to the train station looks down the tracks and oh there is no train, i'm going to leave." "They go to the timetable and schedule and waiting for the train, why?" "Because the train is coming just because you can't see the train it does not mean that train is not coming." "You see, i asked the kids how many feet do i have?" "They said, "One"." "i said, " well look, i've got another one here!"" "Just cause, you could not see, it does not mean it is not there." "Just cause you can't see hope in your life, it does not mean that it is not here and it is not coming!" "Just because you can't see the purpose in your circumstances of a broken marriage or whatever financial trials, does not mean that there is not a purpose behind it." "You know, i love that saying what won't kill you will just make you stronger." "it is true!" "it is true!" "Why am i strong?" "Why am i so mature?" "because i've been through a lot." "i'm just thankful, i'm just an empty vessel and i'm here for a purpose." "And i love my life knowing that everyday is a choice to take a step this way or take a step that way." "And i just hope you've been encouraged." "i did not know exactly what you were expecting or anything like that, i mean." "But those are the key principles that i shared with your kids today." "Public speaking is quite a difficult thing for a lot of people to do, and i was wondering if you ever get nervous or were you nervous when you first started on the speaking circuit?" "When i was 13 years old, i was at high school in the Brisbane area, and there was one speaker who came and he spoke to all of our school 1400 people in our high school from grade 8 to 12." "And he had 7 minutes to talk and within 3 minutes, a lot of people were crying and i was even touched just by his story, his inspirational story and you were encouraged, it was amazing." "And i sort of took a step back and i though well, he has an awesome job, i mean, he gets paid to do that go around the world and give people hope, may be, one day, i will have a good enough story to tell." "And so being invited to this little group, i said, "Well, may be let's try it out!"" "So i did that and from those 12 people, word of mouth got out that i'm speaking now at youth groups, speaking at smaller churches." "i used to be nervous, a lot." "Just before i got up, i am like when i get up on stage, i am like.." "Woe!" "you know," "But once i started, i was OK!" "And the more you speak, the better you get." "i have had some training since that so, about 18 months ago, 2 years ago, i had about 8 months training of presentation, pitch and pace and volume with voice, and just eye contact and everything else," "so, but i believe i have a gift for it because it is my passion." "i would not do anything else, than get up on stage, and be the centre of attention." "But, it is beautiful when you see that purpose." "Yeah!" "So,i was nervous, i just had a crowd of 100 thousand people about 3 months ago in india." "And you had your blood pumping, you know, what i mean, and just wow!" "And i got up there and i just convinced myself it was just adrenaline, so you turn that into adrenaline and go so it was good!" "i look back on my life and i've been a workaholic." "i worked in earthmoving equipment." "And i've gone away for a little short time and come back weeks later, months later worked up in the Northern Territory and left my wife that i'd been married to for 34 years, and now the 4 children i 've got, 3 of the boys won't have nothing to do with me," "and my wife says, "well, you never spent time with them, when they needed you, and i realize now i actually rung me son this morning and i said "John, i love you"," "and he said, "look, Dad, i haven't got time to talk to you now"." "And i realized that if i had spent more time with my kids and shared with them more, they might have spent more time with me now." "i hope and pray that one day, they will appreciate that i thought i was doing the right thing." "i thought i was giving the material goods but what they needed was me." "As men, as husbands, we have a nature of wanting to protect and to provide for the family, so we are in that practical sense of saying, "how can i protect and provide for my family?"" "i've got to go and work and the more i work, then the more i can provide and protect, and the more that i can show them they are love." "You see, this is the thing, we are all wired up differently." "That is so important to have that balance and that is i think one of the hardest thing in life, is to have that balance in life of being too busy to provide, yet, making time to be with them and enjoy the ride and smell the roses." "That's profound, thank you so much for sharing that, and you know i have seen a lot of marriages have a lot of tension, just because of, not misunderstandings, but lack of knowledge on how we are wired up different as men and women." "You see, men will go out and they will go and work hard for all day." "And they will come back home tired, and all they want to do is sit down, have a beer and watch TV." "And then, the wife will go "Well, can you come and help me?"" "And then, the husband is offended and because "well, don't you see how much i love you, i've been at work all day, working my butt off and i just want to rest now, can't you just give me that?"" "And the wife's like, "well, you don't appreciate me, because i've been doing the cooking, cleaning, washing kids.. bla, bla, bla...." "You have no idea what i've been going through all the bills!"" "and then maybe something was not done one little thing, and then, the husband gets angry, and the wife says, "well, you have no idea of what i've done."" "And you just like there are different level... and you know, then, once the husband rested and the kids are put to bed and the wife wants to relax, and then the husband comes and says, 'hey honey, how you doing?" "You know what i mean?" "And it is just two different levels and there is such power in education if we just understand that." "Nick, can i ask a personal question about your family?" "Sure you can." "Do you have siblings?" "Yes." "Do they have struggle around having a brother with no limbs?" "Definitely, i was actually the first born in my family." "After me, i have a brother and a sister." "i am 24, my brother is 21, and my sister is 18 and so all about 3 years apart." "They have no birth defects." "There are no traces of birth defects throughout our families." "So, this is just one of those things in life that happened, so actually growing up in school, surprise, surprise, i am the center of attention, you know, out of all the school, i am the only guy without arms and legs." "And i had that attention and once i actually started having... the confidence of speaking with kids and playing with kids." "As soon as i open my mouth, barriers go down because they realize i'm just like anybody else." "i've just got no arms and no legs and so what i did was i made a lot of friends quickly." "And then my brother came into school and everybody knew that my brother was Nick's brother, you know, and everything was referred to Nick, Nick, Nick." "And so i think my brother really sort of lost his identity." "And that sort of happens with, you know, younger siblings." "Let's say, you have a very quote 'successful' leader of a child who is school captain and everybody knows that person as the school captain's brother, and so you are going in their shadow and that happens naturally." "And so my parents' wisdom when i was going into high school, i was out of primary school, obviously and then my brother and sister did not come to my high school, so they had that wisdom in doing that." "So i was very thankful for my brother and sister who helped my physically as well." "You know, around the house every now and then when i was a child and always had their love and support and they just knew me as Nick i mean." "They don't know anything different." "This is who i am." "i don't know anything different and so yeah," "At the same time, a lot of people come up and say," ""oh, you know, i just wish you could speak to my friend who became a quadriplegic of lost his legs or something like that, and i don't know anything different and i tell people i don't know your pain, you know," "i don't know how if feels to have legs then loose them or something like that." "And i told your kids today or what i normally tell high schools anyway is that i don't know their pain, i don't know what they are going through, but i know how it feels to be lonely." "And i know how if feels to have a broken heart, and i know what's pulled me through my broken heart and healed my heart, so to give them that just so they can apply it in their own life." "it is so powerful!" "So, i take my hat off to parents who have kids with disabilities, especially mental disabilities that's such a different ball game." "And they are my inspiration, a lot of people ask me what is my inspiration?" "They are my inspiration, to see how they love that child and the purpose of that child even though they can't speak, they can't think for themselves." "They just bring perspective in your life, just by a smile they have done that for me." "And just because of that, that's purpose in their life in my eyes, and there is no mistakes in life, i don't believe it." "i believe all things come together for the good." "And i've seen it in my life anyway, and all that i can talk from is my own experience." "Ladies and gentlemen." "it's just been an absolute privilege and honour for our school to host Nick here today." "it's been extremely powerful as i think a lot of you... are sort of experiencing the power of the message coming here from Nick." "He is such a fantastic guy." "He is extremely engaging." "But just what he's given our boys and girls today, we just can't place a value on that." "They majority of our students chose to hug Nick, and i wouldn't of been able to have predicted that before this visit, and one of the little boys went up and he said to Nick, "you are the man"." "Nick response to him was i love you." "As that little boy walked away, he said to his mate, he had a smile on his face." "He said, "that is the first time anyone's ever said they love me"" "Now, sometimes, i think that the message that Nick is giving, oh that little boy i'm sure has got parents and family that love him dearly." "But, sometimes, as parents we don't say it enough and i think that might have been the situation." "A girl came and said to me, "Mrs McKinnon, you know, been a bit of whinger i reckon, and i am not going to whinge any more."" "So Nick, on behalf of the Pottsville Beach School community staff, parents and students, thank you very very much and it's just been a pleasure to share this tiny little part of your life." "And it's been wonderful to be able to celebrate being different, thank you." "Thank you so much." "Appreciate it, Debbie." "Thank you for giving me this opportunity to speak into your life and to share with you my story." "i hope you've been challenged and inspired to never give up, and i believe that you have been touched." "i'd love to hear from you." "Write to me!" "i enjoy reading so many people's testimonials on how my life has impacted theirs." "So please write to me or email me." "i also want you to know that there is a book coming and a series of DVDs so be on the lookout for that." "if you see me on the street face to face, make sure you come up and say "Hello!" and give me a hug." "i'd love to meet you." "Remember, there is ALWAYS hope." "NEVER give up!" "i just love life. i love life." "You know so many people come and say "How come you smile so much?"" "and i'm like, "Well, it's a long story!"" ""Hello!"" "The irrepressible Nicholas Vujicic." "The birth of a son with no arms or legs was a challenge they didn't want." "i really couldn't, i thought it was a bad dream." "i thought i would just wake up any minute." "i wasn't sure that i was even going to take him home, and i didn't think that i would be up to looking after him." "Certainly with time you grow to accept him, to love him for what he is, the way he is." "Providing Nicholas with everything he needs is a constant struggle." "A battle to find or design suitable equipment." "A battle to find the money to pay for it all." "There weren't really much of places or people that you could turn to help you." "So everything that we did with him was trial and error." "We just had to take things one day at a time, just work through things just me and him." "Even the doctors couldn't help me much in that regard." "i'm saving up my pocket money for a computer at home." "He can't move as fast as he would like but Nicholas Vujicic is a wiz at computer games." "This i realized only too well when the seven year old dynamo thrashed me in the first round." "Swimming is his latest achievement." "This performance after only two lessons." "Tackling disability comes naturally to Nicholas." "Disability is a word he doesn't seem to understand." "Through a combination of technology and sheer will power," "Nicholas is successfully driving his way through his six year old world." "But there are some things that still defeat him." "Like... in the toy box in my room." "i want to get something and i can't get it because i don't have any arms or legs." "And he regards himself as normal, just with a few bits and pieces missing." "You kind of wonder, try to imagine what kind of future is he going to have." "What kind of life this person is going to lead." "i think he's going to have, quite a good life." "And he loves life." "He rises to the challenge." "He works out his own way of doing things and surprises me constantly." "He is a really good kid." "He's really great." "i wouldn't trade him." "Sherry Long is Nick's fellow school captain." "Together they say they can make a difference." "i think we will be great school captains, i think we will make it a better place." "But when he is not in the classroom, Nick is out here playing sports." "Now as school captain he is determined to make sports days wheelchair friendly." "We can have disabled wheelchair races, you know so they will get involved too." "We were sort of left out last year." "But not on the playground." "As strange as it may sound..." "Nick is the resident hand ball champion." "There were times when i sort of looked at my life and i think, i can't do this or i can't do that." "And you keep on concentrating on the things you wish you had or the things you wish you didn't have and you sort of forget what you do have." "Hey, everybody you want to count with me?" "Ready." "Set. 1, 2, 3." "1, 2, 3." "She watches them, cover magazines and t.v. screens." "Wishing she could be more like them." "in her eyes there is more to life than becoming someone people admire for beauty and so at night she stares out her window wishing she could change." "You're beautiful." "You're beautiful." "You're beautiful." "You're beautiful." "Just the way you are." "She walks busy streets looking for her next meet." "Maybe he will be the one." "Cause in her mind there is more to life than being someone but deeper down she hasn't found the one thing that will make her feel loved." "So she is looking for it in all the wrong places." "You're beautiful." "You're beautiful." "You're beautiful." "You're beautiful." "Just the way you are." "Oh boy!" "Woo!" "She walks busy streets looking for her next meet." "Maybe he will be the one." "Cause in her mind there is more to life than being someone but deeper down she hasn't found the one thing that will make her feel loved." "it's freezing - i can't feel my hands!" "i have always wanted to ride a horse on my own." "You're beautiful." "Boom Boom Boom Boom Boom Boom Boom Boom" "You're beautiful." "You're beautiful." "Just the way you are." "Today, man we did it!" "i'm so happy." "That was so much fun. it was awesome!" "She still hears his words surrounding her." "Love you man, thanks a lot bro, give me a hug man!" "...they faded her away." "So at night she stares out her window wishing she could change." "it's awesome, man!" "Cause when she catches her reflection and she hopes there was another way." "You're beautiful." "You're beautiful." "You're beautiful." "Get set!" "You're beautiful." "That's fun, let's do it again!" "Just the way you are."