Attitude is Altitude Lesson Summary Notes and Explanation in English Class 10th

Introduction

This chapter is about Nick Vujicic who was born with no arms or legs – but he doesn’t let the details stop him. The brave 26-year-old – who is mainly torso – plays football and golf, swims, and surfs, despite having no limbs. Nick has a small foot on his left hip which helps him balance and enables him to kick. 

Summary

Disability is not inability

This is the story of a great person, Nicholas James Nick Vujicic, who stands as an inspiration to other people with his great qualities that is faith, will power and perseverance. Even though he is a disabled person his disability has not stopped him from doing what he has wanted to do. Nick Vujicic was born on 4 December 1982 in Melbourne, Australia with a rare disability called Phocomelia characterised by the absence of all four limbs. 

Despite the absence of his limbs, he plays football and golf, swims and surfs. He is an Australian Christian evangelist and motivational speaker. As a child, he struggled mentally and emotionally as well as physically. It was a shock to Nick’s parents that he was born without limbs. His mother was a nurse and his father was a computer programmer and accountant. His parents did their very best when they decided to send him to mainstream school despite the risk of humiliation. 

Overcoming depression 

Nick has a small foot on his left hip. It gives him balance and enables him to kick. With his foot, he writes with a pen and picks things up between his toes. He also plays golf with a heavy stick tucked under his chin. He is a huge fan of the English Premier League. His parents did their best to make him independent from the start. His father gave him the courage to learn how to swim by putting him in water at 18 months. His mother invented a special plastic device to enable him to hold a pen and pencil. 

At age eight, Nick was deeply depressed and went to his mother crying. He told her that he wanted to kill himself. When he was ten years old, he decided to end his life by drowning himself in a bathtub but luckily, he was unsuccessful in his attempt. When Nick was 13, he was inspired when he read about a disabled man who had managed to achieve great things and helped others. He understood that God had given him the life to give hope to others and so he decided to use his life to encourage other people and give them the courage. 

Nick’s achievements

He believes that challenges strengthen our opinions. With the help of his religion, friends and family, Nick becomes an international symbol of triumph over adversity. Nick won the Australian Young Citizen of the Year award in 1990 for his bravery and perseverance. His persistence made him achieve a degree in Financial Planning and Real Estate. He went to Hawaii in 2008 and was trained in surfing by Bethany Hamilton. Nick was on the cover of Surfer magazine with his feat of doing the 360-degree spins. He is able to do this feat because of his low centre of gravity. 

Nick and Kanae Miyahara, whose mother was a Mexican and father was a Japanese, got married on February 12, 2012 and on February 13, 2013 they were blessed with the birth of a healthy baby boy with full body. 

Nick became a motivational speaker

Nick has travelled to over 24 countries speaking to groups of up to 110,000 people. He keeps telling the people to keep on getting up when they fall and to always love themselves. He spreads his messages of faith and hope around the world. 

Nick uses his story to inspire and inform people all around the world. Nick presents values, principles, attitudes and perspectives that challenge and equip people from all walks of life to overcome their adversities.

Conclusion

There is no battle of life that can keep a determined person away from achieving her goal. We all have a measure of determination for something in life. But when we use determination in a positive way, we reap its benefits in a wonderful way. Sri Ramakrishna used to say that determination is the key to your relationship with God.