Nick Vujicic’s Overcoming Hopelessness
I was required to do a Reflection Paper on a TED TALK for my Advanced English (AE) assignment at Institute of Foreign Languages (IFL) last semester (2017). Here, I decided to do a reflection on Nick Vujicic’s Talk about “Overcoming Hopelessness”. I hope everyone can get inspired from both this reflection paper and Nick Vujicic himself.
— Nick Vujicic is a famous Australian motivational speaker, born in 1982 with a rare disorder which caused him having no limbs in his body. Despite his disability, he has written 2 books read by billions of people, received 30 awards as best actor in short films, done his own music video, met 7 presidents all around the world, been speaking at 5 congresses, and been invited to 30,000 events. In this talk, he described the struggles he faced, how hopeless he felt in his childhood years and the importance of his parents in helping him overcome hopelessness. Nick Vujicic’s idea worth spreading is that there are no walls. With hope, you can make your wall doors; in other words, you can change your obstacles into opportunities.
Summary
Nick has met many varieties of people including slaves, businessmen, and billionaires; and all of them are looking for one thing which is hope. We are not born with hope but pain; and we live through it.
As a child, Nick had a big wall. He was bullied at school several times. Words are very powerful. When we hear hurtful things, we tend to believe in those lies and begin to lose strength to live. At age 8, Nick thought of commit suicide because he thought he did not have hope. At age 10, He felt he had enough; and he wanted to end his life by trying to drown himself in his home. However, by the third time he rolled over the water; he suddenly realized that he would make his parents more hopeless through committing suicide. That one thought has changed his mind. If his parents did not love him, encourage him, tell him he is special and beautiful just the way he is and to not care about what other people say about him, he would not be able to survive and become who he is today.
Every parent in the world should always support and encourage their children because many 50-year-old people still remember what their parents told them which they wish they have never heard such as “You’re not good enough, you’ll never get a job”, “You won’t get married”, “Just give up”.
Besides parents’ love, there are 3 other things that everyone should comprehend:
- Money is important but it cannot heal the soul.
- Many teenagers are looking for love because love can heal the soul. Sex within marriage with someone who is committed to us is what love is about; however, sex out of marriage is like a five dollar Gucci watch. Nick believes that we can sleep around with many people we want but we never know if they really love us. Our decisions will affect our lives. Therefore, think wisely.
- Everyone is beautifully made. Love yourself just the way you are.
When Nick was 24 years old, in California, he saw a little boy with no arms and no legs, 19 months old, just like him. When that little boy was brought to the stage in front of 2000 people, everyone started crying. He knew what that boy was going to face: depression, loneliness and others. Nick still has no arms and no legs, but everything has changed. He has a beautiful wife and two sons. He has also spoken to around 4.5 million people face to face, written two successfully books, received 30 awards for best actor, done his own music video, met 7 presidents around the world, and has 2 organizations and so on.
He is no superhero; yet he has inspired millions of people to dream big. If he can do it, we can also do it. With hope, we can make our wall doors. We can change our obstacles into opportunities.
My Reflection
I have never heard the name of Nick Vujicic, a guy without limbs, until the video of him speaking at school events was played this one time during the visit from foreign students at my high school. That video has made me to be eager to research more about this guy; and luckily I got a chance to join his charity concert held in Diamond Island Theater, Phnom Penh, Cambodia in 2013. His inspirational speech has big impact in my life through my younger years; and this is the main reason why I chose this TED Talk. I expect to learn more from the talk as an older version of myself with more knowledge I have so far received. In this section, I will illustrate my personal view on his messages, and how he conveys them to the audiences.
First of and foremost, the story of Nick Vujicic overcoming his hopeless in life is very fascinating and inspired. Instead of blaming for what we do not have; we should take a moment to appreciate what we have. Just like Nick, he does not have arms and legs; but with the support from his family, and the faith he has, he can become a successful man, not to mention, with a beautiful wife and two sons. Willpower is very crucial. On the other hand, if he were to give up his life at the age of 10, there would not be a story of a happy, brave and inspired limbless guy but the tragic news of a limbless child who gave up hope. In addition, I strongly agree with Nick’s comments on person’s values. Everyone is beautiful and unique in our own way. We should not care much or need to feel hurt about other people’s opinion on our body, weight, and height and so on. I believe we should focus more on other important matters such as improving our skills, preparing for a better career, making time for family dinner, volunteering and helping other people in needs, and so on and so forth. I also like the idea of saving ourselves before marriage. This shows the person’s commitment to one another which can lead to a happily marriage. As he said, our choices affect our lives; every of our decision will have consequences to our lives sooner or later; therefore, make good choices.
Moreover, I love the way he expresses how important his family is to him. I, myself, have felt I was an outcast, and did not fit in when I transferred to another high school and during my early years in college. Some kids at school mocked me for being old-fashioned, having strict parents and not knowing how to have fun. Nevertheless, with the love of my parents and other family members, I feel safe and loved. I have grown up in a good environment unlike what other people said. People can say hurtful things to us, yet it is our choice whether to listen or throw them away.
Besides, Nick is indeed a good speaker. He pauses and speaks clearly and in a good pace which effectively draws our attention. Also, he has a good intonation which is very interesting to listen. I like the way he lowers his tone when talking about emotional and sad stories.
Overall, I enjoy listening to this inspirational speech very much. It allows me to reflect on my own attitude towards life and hope. I do appreciate how he is so humble and willing to help inspire many millions of people to love each other, to be hopeful, and on top of that to not give up on life despite all the hardships.
Conclusion
In conclusion, the message of this talk has clearly disseminated that love and support from our family play a powerful role in making us to stand up against the walls and pains that we have faced along the way in our lives and refer them as lessons and opportunities to improve ourselves in terms of skills, strengths and capacities. We are what we choose to be; and Nick chose to be a powerful person, even though not physically, but mentally and emotionally. He knows what it means to be bullied at school, rejected and hopeless. He has no legs and no arms, yet he can overcome those obstacles. If he can dream big, we also can.
