Life Without Limits (24 page)

I also looked up to my cousin Duncan Jurisic. When I was a child, I’d often be afraid to inconvenience someone to take me to the loo, so he helped me come up with a line to remember. He said, “When you need to go, just let someone know.” Not only did he and my other Vujicic cousins continue to love and support me, but Duncan and his mother, Danilka, helped me overcome my fears in the early days of my speaking career. Their family, who ran the Australian Hospitality Group in Melbourne, offered me their wise and valuable guidance.

Role Models
have been where you want to go, but they aren’t usually as close to you as mentors. Usually you watch them from afar, study their moves, read their books, and follow their careers as models for your own. Often these are celebrated figures in your field, people whose success has made them famous and respected. One of my long-term role models whom I’ve always wanted to meet is the Reverend Billy Graham. He has lived the words from Mark 16:15 that also are my inspiration: “Go into all the world and preach the Gospel to every creature.”

There has to be a place somewhere between mentors and role
models for folks like Vic and Elsie Schlatter, whom I’ve visited at least once a year nearly every year of my life. They always inspire me to be a better Christian and a better person. They live in Australia, but they have planted more than sixty-five churches and missions in far-flung corners of the South Pacific. They are my models for making a difference as missionaries. They work quietly, without a lot of publicity, and they never puff themselves up, but they’ve made a world of difference for many, many souls.

As a teen Elsie had a vision of Jesus standing before her instructing her to “go.” Elsie took that to mean that God wanted her to do missionary work one day. Vic worked for General Electric at a nuclear plant after they got married, but he and Elsie also started a church and began planning their first mission—to Papua New Guinea, a small tribal nation in the South Pacific that had very little exposure to Christianity. Small though the nation was, its three million people were dauntingly diverse, speaking more than seven hundred dialects.

Vic and Elsie fell in love with that part of the world, and they now live on the north coast of Australia. From that base they conduct mission work around the South Pacific. In addition to writing several books of his own on religion, Vic has translated the Scriptures into pidgin English and other dialects for the indigenous tribes he and Elsie serve.

Identifying a
Fellow Traveler
is a bit tough for me because my life has followed a rather unconventional path. Fellow travelers are usually peers, co-workers, and others with similar goals to yours, who are walking on a parallel road. They might even be rivals, but friendly rivals. You encourage and support each other by practicing an abundance mentality rather than a scarcity mentality.

When you believe in abundance, you believe there are enough of God’s blessings—enough fulfillment, enough opportunity, enough happiness, and enough love—out there for everyone. I encourage you to take that point of view because it opens you up to other
people. If you tend to think of the world as a place of scarce resources and limited opportunities, then you’ll see fellow travelers as threats who’ll take what is out there and leave nothing for you. Competition can be healthy because it motivates you, and you will always find others who want what you want. With an abundance mentality, you believe there are rewards enough for everyone, so competition is more about striving to do your best and encouraging others to do the same.

An abundance mentality allows you to walk alongside your fellow travelers with feelings of camaraderie and mutual support. I learned that in my friendship with Joni Eareckson Tada, who has traveled a similar path to mine. As I described earlier, Joni was a role model for me long before I knew her; she became a mentor, helping me get established in the United States; and now she is a fellow traveler, offering wise counsel and a sympathetic ear.

Another person who has been there for me in all sorts of ways is Jackie Davison, who lived around the corner from my family when I was a teenager. She was married with young children, but Jackie always found time to listen to me as I spilled my guts about whatever was on my mind, good or bad. She was close enough in age that she was more of a wise friend than a judgmental adult. I have such love for her family, and I became an unofficial big brother to her kids, helping them with their homework or just hanging out.

Back in 2002 I was having a rough time in my university studies and in my personal life, and it was distracting and disorienting. I’d broken up with a longtime girlfriend and was very emotional. So I went to Jackie and asked her to help me understand what had happened. I poured out my heart, but she sat there with her hands clasped, patiently listening without responding. Suddenly it hit me that as I was unloading all this emotional baggage on her, she wasn’t reacting. Finally I stopped and said, “What should I do? Tell me!” She smiled and her eyes sparkled as she said simply, “Praise God.”

Confused and frustrated, I said, “Praise God for what?”

“Just praise God, Nick.”

I stared at the floor thinking,
That’s all she has to say? This woman is something else!

Then it hit me that Jackie was telling me to trust in God and that He hadn’t forgotten me. She was telling me that I should put faith not in the wisdom of man but in the power of God. She was telling me to surrender to God and to thank Him, even though I didn’t feel He deserved thanks. She was telling me to thank God in advance for blessings that would come of this pain. She has a powerful faith, and she always reminds me, when I feel confused or hurt, to surrender to God, because He has a plan for us all.

These “life guide” relationships are not always easy going. Your “guides” will give you a reality check or even a kick in the pants. But they care enough to make you really think about what you are doing, where you are going, why you are in the game, and what comes next. You want people like that in your life.

When I decided to become a public speaker and to encourage others to have faith, I shared the decision with my closest friends and family. Some were concerned, including my parents. The Apostolic Christian Church that I belong to has dispatched many missionaries over the years. They’ve built orphanages and helped many in need. When I told my parents that I wanted to speak about my faith to other denominations in churches around the world, they had misgivings about my health and concerns about whether this mission was truly what God wanted for me.

I listened to them because I knew they wanted me to be successful. You should do the same when your own Dream Team offers opinions about your plans, especially if you want them to remain
invested in your success. Honor them and give careful thought to their advice and guidance. You don’t have to accept it, but respect that they care enough to tell you even what you may not want to hear.

I respected my parents’ concerns, but I felt God was calling me to be an evangelist. My mission then was to be obedient and patient and pray that they’d come to feel the same way. By God’s grace, not only my parents but also the church accepted my calling. Its leaders stood behind me and ordained me as the church’s first Minister of Evangelism.

There are no promises or guarantees that everyone you meet will want to help you. Some may even try to discourage you. They may have the best intentions and good reason to be worried. None of my parents’ fears were irrational, but I prayed that their faith would overcome all those concerns.

Parents and their grown children often must agree to disagree and move on. The same holds true with other members of your Dream Team. You may be proven wrong when you go your own way. You may be proven right. In the end, being right isn’t what’s important.

I am so thankful that my parents and I can respect each other’s opinions and decisions. By God’s grace, our relationship withstood a test, and we emerged even closer than before because of our deep love and mutual respect. If we had not talked openly about our feelings, the outcome might not have been such a happy one.

I attended my church regularly as my base and did my best to mentor the young people there. But I also began to branch out, speaking to other churches, reaching out to people in a much wider area. I’m pleased to report that many of the young people have moved forward in their relationships with God, and I thank Him for that.

My mum and dad prayed for me and with me on the day in 2008 when I was officially ordained an evangelist, and that experience
brought us to a new level of mutual love and respect. My parents knew that I was committed and dedicated to spreading the word of God. To have them all pray for me in front of the entire church congregation was something I’ll never forget. I have to say that my parents are my strongest supporters, and they were right far more than they were wrong about the important decisions in my life.

You should never take relationships for granted, especially those with your closest family members. The rewards last a lifetime.

Take time now to evaluate your people skills, the quality of your relationships, and what you put into them. Are you trustworthy? Do you trust those closest to you? Are you attracting people willing to invest in your success? Are you honoring them? Are you putting into the relationship as much as you are taking out?

Each time I’m laughing and enjoying my family, I realize how much I live for such moments. My hope is to somehow convince them that San Diego beaches are better than Australian beaches so that I can always have them near. Hold your loved ones as close as you can, as long as you can.

The quality of your relationships has a huge impact on the quality of your life, so please treat them as precious. Don’t take them for granted. The Bible says, “Two are better than one, because they have a good return for their work: If one falls down, his friend can help him up. But pity the man who falls and has no one to help him up!”

J
oshua and Rebekah Weigel are award-winning filmmakers in Los Angeles dedicated to making movies that inspire as well as entertain. I’d never met them, but after they saw one of my videos, they were inspired to write a fictional screenplay with me in mind as the main character. As they were writing this script, the Weigels were trying to contact me through various channels, but since I was gadding about on a speaking tour, they couldn’t reach me. Then one Sunday while they were attending church in Westlake Village, they ran into an old friend of theirs named Kyle.

“What are you doing now?” they asked Kyle.

“I’m working as a caregiver for this guy named Nick Vujicic,” he said.

Not surprisingly, Joshua and Rebekah were stunned.

How amazing is that? How often does it happen that two dedicated filmmakers write a script for someone they’ve never met, then seek him out and offer to make a movie with him? It’s fantastic, right? A dream come true!

Have you ever missed out on a wonderful chance because you didn’t have your act together? Have you watched in despair as someone else ran through a door that you failed to see was open? Learn from those experiences, and buck up, mate! Walter Chrysler, founder of the Chrysler automotive company, once said that the reason so many people never get anywhere in life is that when opportunity knocks, they are out in the backyard looking for four-leaf
clovers. Today I see people buying lottery tickets instead of investing in their futures. Invest in your future by preparing with hard work, dedicate yourself to your goals, and then watch for the right time to make the leap.

If you feel you never get a shot, maybe it’s because you aren’t locked, loaded, and ready to fire. You are responsible for your own success. Take on that responsibility by preparing yourself to do your best. When you get to the right place, the breaks will come. If you have a chip on your shoulder, or you’re hosting a pity party, don’t expect an invitation to the dance. Believe in yourself (have I mentioned this already?). Believe in the possibilities for your life. Believe in your value on this planet. If you don’t feel worthy of wings, you’ll never get off the ground.

Break a sweat. Get your hands dirty. Hit the books. Thomas Edison said opportunities are often missed because they are dressed in overalls and look like work. Are you ready to do whatever it takes?

I have to confess that when the Weigels first contacted me, I wasn’t paying attention. Poor Kyle was so excited for me. He tried to tell me about his friends the filmmakers and the project they had for me. “I have some friends who have a movie idea for you—” was all he had a chance to say before I cut him off.

“Kyle, I’m too busy to talk to your friends right now,” I said crankily.

I’d been traveling a great deal and was edgy and tired. Oddly enough, I’d recently been burned by another movie proposition. After hearing just a basic outline of it (a feature-length film!), I’d been excited about it for months. Then they sent me the script. It turned out, the producers wanted me to portray a foul-mouthed, tobacco-chewing character who spends most of the movie getting lugged around in a potato sack slung over someone’s back.

That was not the sort of role I wanted to begin my movie career,
or end it. So I said no. Not every chance is worth taking. You have to be true to your values, incorporating them into your long-term goals. What mark do you wish to make? How do you want to be remembered? I didn’t want my grandchildren to one day discover a DVD of a movie in which Grandpa Nick curses, drools tobacco juice down his chin, and lives like a degenerate. So I said thanks but no thanks to that first movie offer.

I loved the idea of making a movie, but I wasn’t willing to abandon my values to do it. You may have to make a similar decision. Stay strong. Stick with your principles, but don’t make the mistake I made: when I closed that first door, I also closed my mind.

That’s why I shot down good old Kyle without a second thought when he cheerfully brought the Weigels’ film project to me. I didn’t see the future because I was looking in the rearview mirror. Big mistake.