“NO ARMS, no legs, no worries.” This is how Nick Vujicic is inspiring the whole world. He was born in 1982 in Melbourne, Australia, having neither arms or legs without any medical explanation or warning.
After seeing the trailer video of Nickon YouTube, I was left in awe thinking how most of the time, each of us whine about all the things we don’t have, or how things do not turn out the way they should or as we expected them to. Actually, I couldn’t help but cry while watching the video, not because I feel pity for Nick, but because of my guilt for too much complaining about petty things and problems like having a bad hair day, having a pimple pop out of my face, or not being able to buy a new pair of shoes or a dress.
While we all worry about nonsensical things in our lives, let’s look at this amazing man, who might have probably just locked himself inside his room and avoided to mingle with everyone because of his physical disabilities. But instead he’s out there, giving inspirational talks all over the world, playing golf and even soccer, diving in a swimming pool, fishing and riding a speed boat. You might ask, how can he do all these things? Well, the answer is really simple. It is because he believes that he can. If you are as curious as the doubting Thomas, just simply watch Nick’s video on YouTube and see for yourself.
Nick says, “there were times when I looked at my life, and think I can’t do this I can’t do that and you keep on concentrating on the things that you wish you had, all the things you wish you didn’t have and you sort of forget what you do have. And there’s no point I believe in my life where I wish I had arms, legs... what I’ve seen in life is just to be thankful.”
Well, we don’t have to look far to see how persons with disabilities cope with life and inspire us to be thankful for what we have. Unlike Nick Vujicic who was already born without arms and legs, Deodel Morada who was nine years old when lost his arms and one leg after being electrocuted with a live wire from an electric post. Morada is from Albay and he can edit videos, can play basketball and even ride a skateboard.
Incidentally, I also have a student who was born with a cleft lip and palate. When I asked for volunteers for the individual reports, I was amazed to see that my student was the first one to volunteer. I was so touched that I speak of him with high regard especially to the other students who know him. I told my students that they should not be shy or afraid to speak in front because they have nothing to be ashamed of.
The Paralympics is a series of international contests for athletes with disabilities that are associated with and held following the summer and winter Olympic Games — called also Paralympic Games. As the 2020 Tokyo Parlaympic Games are currently happening, we need to show our full support to our five Filipino athletes who qualified. They are champion para-swimmers Ernie Gawilan and Gary Bejino, Taekwondo jin Allain Ganapin, para-trackster Jerrold Mangliwan, and discus thrower Jeanette Aceveda.
The Paralympics in 1948 started when a small group of British World War II veterans and eventually became one of the largest sporting events in the early 21st century. According to the Paralympic Movement, "the allowable disabilities are broken down into ten eligible impairment types. The categories are impaired muscle power, impaired passive range of movement, limb deficiency, leg length difference, short stature, hypertonia, ataxia, athetosis, vision impairment and intellectual impairment."
People with disabilities, whether physical or mental, are people with their own capabilities. They may be unique or different in a way, but they are definitely capable of doing anything and everything.