FULL ENGAGEMENT
When such wise people talk of living in balance, we should feel encouraged to find fulfillment in all aspects of life—in mind, body, heart, and spirit—so that you keep growing and thriving in your mental prowess, your physical health, your emotional well-being, and in the strength of your faith.
Maintaining an absolutely perfect balance in all four areas is probably not a realistic goal with all the pressures in our lives. After all, our poor brains can get overtaxed, our bodies break down, relationships ebb and flow, and living according to our faith requires constant vigilance and adjustments. Still, being aware of each element and striving to achieve balance is a worthy goal. My hope is that I’ll be able to reach the end of my life and know that I’ve done my best, as imperfect as I may be.
With Kanae in my life now, and with our plans to begin a family someday, I want to take care of myself for the sake of those I love. I can no longer selfishly stress my body by working too hard, not eating well, and neglecting to exercise. I have to remain in control of my emotions so that I can put my wife first by being attentive, encouraging, and supportive of her needs in that arena. Mentally, I want to keep growing my knowledge base so that I can keep up with her and be a source of wisdom for our children. Spiritually, well, this is an especially critical area for both of us since we hope to work together as Christian evangelists who inspire and lead others to Jesus Christ, our Lord and Savior.
We all have to decide what works best for us, fulfills us, and gives us the greatest sense of control and contentment in our interior and exterior lives. If you are feeling out of sync, stuck, unmotivated, or unloved, then you may need to get back into alignment. Reflect on each area of your life and consider whether you’ve paid enough attention to each. Then devise a plan for addressing anything you’ve neglected in the physical, emotional, mental, and spiritual realms.
A few things to keep in mind when seeking balance:
1. You are uniquely made, so you must determine what “balance” means for you based on your circumstances, relationships, and needs. A single person will surely have different criteria than someone who is married or a parent. As your situation and circumstances change, your balance will likely shift. The important thing is to be aware of the need to maintain harmony in all areas of your life and to stand ready to make adjustments when needed.
2. Maintaining balance is not about being in control. You can’t control all aspects of life anymore than you can control every driver and every car on the road with you. The best you can do is to remain alert to all possibilities and be flexible and thoughtful in your responses.
3. Don’t feel you have to go it alone. Australians and Americans especially suffer from the solitary hero or Lone Ranger complex. My parents will enjoy this one because their son Nick wasn’t the best at sharing his feelings and listening to advice in his younger years. Often, I had to do things my way, and that led to many lessons learned the hardheaded way. You will probably make the same mistakes, but at least be open to the possibility that those who care the most about you may have some advice worth heeding. Consider that maybe they aren’t trying to control you. Instead, they may be trying to help you. Listening to them is not a sign of weakness or dependence. It is a sign of strength and maturity.
4. Go with your gifts and passions. The most balanced, stable, happy, and fulfilled people I know are those who build their lives around the continuous development and full expression of their talents and interests. They don’t have jobs or even careers. They have passion and purpose. They are fully engaged. If you do what you love and earn a living from it, you will never have to work a day in your life, and retirement will be what other people do.
5. When you aren’t getting what you want, try giving it. If you can’t catch a break, why not provide one? If no one is reaching out to you, reach out to someone whose needs are greater than yours. Take the focus off your problems and help someone deal with theirs. What have you got to lose other than self-pity? Sometimes the best way to heal your own body, mind, heart, and spirit is to serve as a source of comfort and support to someone around you. Filling the bucket of someone else may replenish your own.
6. Live in a constant state of gratitude, and laugh whenever possible. You will have days in which life seems to drop one load of bricks after another on you. The best way to escape that pile is to rise above it. Gratitude and good humor are the great elevators of life. Instead of cursing the bricks that bruise you, be thankful for the opportunity to face challenges and grow from them. If nothing else, simply give thanks to God for another day and the chance to make a difference, to take another step forward, to laugh with those you love.
FOR EVERYTHING THERE IS A SEASON
We are all connected. We all have the same basic human needs to love and be loved. We all want to serve a purpose and to know that our lives have value. Living in balance also means living in harmony with others, which may require giving up yourself to share in something greater—a fuller life.
I was a single man for so long that when I finally found a loving relationship, I had to make some quick adjustments. I had wanted to share my life with someone, but in some ways I wasn’t prepared for what that actually meant. My balance was thrown off because my life was no longer just mine. It was like having someone else jump into your canoe. Suddenly, everything shifts. You have to adjust your position. The load is greater but so is your paddle power. Now, it is a matter of working together to get where you both want to go while keeping the boat upright.
Suddenly Kanae’s wants, needs, and feelings are a consideration. What is important to her has to become important to me. All our relationships are intertwined. Now, my priorities are God, Kanae, our family and friends, and everything else, in that order.
My goal, which I hope you will share with me, is to always put my unstoppable faith into action so that the love of God in my heart is obvious in the way I treat and serve my wife and everyone else in my life. To have faith is not enough. You have to exercise your faith, act upon it, and share it so that others are inspired to love God as you do.
Some people know the Word of God and go to church, but they don’t know the power of the Holy Spirit. They don’t have a personal relationship with the Lord, which comes only when you step out and put your faith into action. I’ve learned that whenever I live to honor God and serve others, He multiplies the blessings.
I have been tremendously blessed to have such a wonderful board of directors and staff at Life Without Limbs. They encourage me, pray for me, and are used by God to keep me grounded. I have my uncle Batta Vujicic, who was instrumental in believing that the Lord did indeed call me to be a vessel for His use. He saw this ten years ago and was used by the Lord to help establish a base and headquarters in the United States, together with the other board members: David Price, Don McMaster, and Reverend Dan’l Markham. I am blessed to have people who believe in the ministry of Life Without Limbs. They not only pray for us but also financially support us to help us serve and inspire millions of people around the world.
Many people support me with their prayers, which have been a great source of strength and encouragement. Uncle Batta had a vision that encouraged me, and this is his description of it:
Several years ago, Nick came to our home to join our family circle for dinner and to relax. After dinner we spent a substantial part of the evening strategizing and planning new ministry visions and activities. It was that night after Nick went home that I had a dream that was very real and vivid.
When I woke up, I shared my experience with my wife, Rita. In my vision I was in a large assembly when an unidentified person got up and with a loud voice aggressively asked me, “Who is Nick Vujicic?” Without further thoughts my instant reply to that person was, “Look up Acts 9:15.”
That scenario repeated itself, but it was another person from the same assembly who asked me the same question in a loud and insistent voice, “Who is Nick Vujicic?”
I repeated my an
swer, “Look up Acts 9:15.”
After verbalizing my dream to my wife, I asked her if she knew what this passage in Acts 9:15 was saying. Neither one of us at the time knew what the verse contained, so we reached for the Bible, opened up to the book of Acts 9:15. This is what that scripture says, “Go thy way: for he is a chosen vessel unto me, to bear my name before the Gentiles, and kings, and the children of Israel.”
That following Sunday, I shared my vision with our congregation of the La Puente Church as a testimony for Nick’s ministry and his involvement in furthering the gospel of Jesus Christ and His kingdom. I have declared my testimony of this vision and will continue to do so with a firm belief that Nick is a chosen vessel of the Lord. It is evident that Nick’s fulfillment of the Great Commission is in the heart of the Life Without Limbs ministry and is aligned with our Lord’s commandment as stated in Mark 16:15, “Go ye into all the world, and preach the gospel to every creature.”
Further, a similar parallel account is declared in Revelation 14:6–7: “And I saw another angel fly in the midst of heaven, having the everlasting gospel to preach unto them that dwell on the earth, and to every nation, and kindred, and tongue, and people, saying with a loud voice, Fear God, and give glory to him; for the hour of his judgment is come: and worship him that made heaven, and earth, and the sea, and the fountains of waters.” Also in Mark 13:10: “And the gospel must first be published among all nations.”
The vision that I had years ago and the overwhelming evidence of the Lord’s opening countless doors for the ministry in order for Nick to declare the Good News continues to be an encouragement to me. As the Lord guides me, I will continue supporting Nick and the ministry of Life Without Limbs, both as a brother and director of that nonprofit organization, as long as I am confident that he has not compromised doctrinal truths and that he has not jeopardized the position of being a chosen vessel of God—and as long as he remains faithful, transparent, sincere, humble, and meek.
As you can tell, Uncle Batta helps keep me focused on my purpose, and he makes sure that I put my faith into action. As I walk through doors of opportunity to share the love and hope I have found, my life keeps on getting richer and more joyful and fulfilled. Whether I speak at schools, corporations, seminars, conferences, the congresses of nations, or to orphans, former sex slaves, or presidents, I am always asked, “But how did you do it? How did you get through your depression, and what is the foundation of hope you have found?”
My life is built upon my faith and the teachings of the Scriptures. These are the source of my confidence, my belief system, my decisiveness, my persistence, and my endurance. With faith guiding my deeds, I can find balance in mind, body, heart, and spirit.
Whenever I need inspiration to act upon my faith, I think of my Serbian grandparents who were persecuted for their Christian beliefs. The communist government did not allow them to worship freely. To live their faith, they had to flee their homeland, which is how I came to grow up in Australia. Both of my grandfathers are in heaven now, I’m sure, but I did have the opportunity to seek their advice while they were here.
My dad’s father always told me to “believe and be disciplined” in my faith. He referred to Psalm 1:3, which says, “He shall be like a tree planted by the rivers of water, that brings forth its fruits in its season, whose leaf also shall not wither; and whatever he does shall prosper.” When you are deeply rooted in faith, you are unstoppable.
My mum’s father encouraged me in much the same way that Reverend Graham did. He said, “Preach the gospel, don’t add or subtract from it.” He, too, believed that God’s truth sets us free.
I am blessed to have come from such a wise and spiritual family. With their continuing support, I want to be unstoppable in inspiring people by telling them about the love and hope I’ve found in my faith and the wonderful results I’ve seen from putting it in action. I hope you have drawn strength and inspiration from this book. Jesus provides my strength. He uses me for His purpose. My calling is to encourage others to find their own purpose and fulfillment and, if possible, to help them find a path to happiness everlasting. I know that God loves the world. He loves you so much He made sure you read this book so you could be encouraged by it! I love you and I pray for you. Thank you for your love and prayers in return.
ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
MOST OF ALL, I THANK GOD: FATHER, SON, AND HOLY SPIRIT.
Words cannot express my joy in being able to thank my wife, Kanae, for all the love, care, support, and prayers she gives in abundance to me. I love you, mi amor!
I’d like to thank my parents, Boris and Dushka Vujicic, for being such strong pillars of support throughout my life. Thanks, Mum and Dad. My brother, Aaron, the best man at my wedding—thank you and your wife, Michelle, for loving me and keeping me grounded. Michelle, my sister—thanks for believing in me and my dreams. To the new family I now have, the Miyahara and Osuna families, my mother-in-law, Esmeralda, my new brothers Keisuke, Kenzi, and Abraham, and my new sister Yoshie—thank you for loving and accepting me into your family.
Thanks again to my relatives and friends who throughout the years have supported me and sown encouragement each step of the way—you all played a part, and I thank you. George Miksa—I pray the Lord continues to carry you and lead you and bless you for helping me start the headquarters of Life Without Limbs in the United States.
Thank you to the board of directors of Life Without Limbs and their families: Batta Vujicic, David Price, Dan’l Markham, Don McMaster, Terry Moore, and Jon Phelps. Thank you, as well, to the advisory board of Life Without Limbs. A very big thank-you to the faithful, diligent, and faith-filled staff of Life Without Limbs. Keep up the great work. Thank you to Ignatius Ho, who helps direct our Hong Kong Life Without Limbs chapter. Thank you to the Apostolic Christian Church of the Nazarene, especially Pasadena, for your support. Thank you also to the Attitude Is Altitude staff and team for backing me, praying for me, and believing with me.
I would like to say a very special thank-you to Wes Smith and his wife, Sarah, for their support. Wes, I could not have asked for a better writing partner. I am very proud of the two books we’ve written so far.
Thanks once again to my literary agents, Jan Miller Rich and Nena Madonia at Dupree Miller & Associates, who have had faith in me and my purpose from the beginning. Also my deepest thanks to my publisher, WaterBrook Multnomah, a division of Random House, and its sterling team, including Michael Palgon, Gary Jansen, Steve Cobb, and Bruce Nygren, who have encouraged and supported me.
Last, but not less important, thank you to all the people who pray for me, my wife, our ministry, and to those who financially support us. A big thank-you as well for helping us attain the goals of Life Without Limbs.
Bless all who read this book. I pray that my words open your hearts and minds in a fresh and dynamic way, moving you to put your faith into action while inspiring others to do the same.
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
NICK VUJICIC is a motivational speaker, evangelist, author, and the director of the nonprofit organization Life Without Limbs. Nick has become a great inspiration to people around the world, regularly speaking to large crowds about overcoming obstacles and achieving dreams.
A longtime resident of Australia, he now lives in Southern California with his wife, Kanae. Visit his websites at www.LifeWithoutLimbs.org and www.AttitudeIsAltitude.com.
What would your life be like
if anything were possible?
In Life Without Limits, Nick Vujicic offers practical advice for having a life of fulfillment and happiness by building trust in others, developing supportive relationships, and gaining strength for the journey. Telling his own story, he’ll encourage you by showing how he learned to accept what he could not control and focus instead on what he could.
Also available, Your Life Without Limits—a small booklet where Nick explores topics like daring to dream, finding purpose, trusting God, overcoming defeat and failure, managing emotions, and avoiding desp
air.
Read an excerpt from this book and more on
WaterBrookMultnomah.com!
Nick Vujicic, Unstoppable
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