I just came home from an awesome event and what I could I say? I was really uplifted by this person.

To those of you who are not familiar with Nick Vujicic (which I doubt there are) He's a motivational speaker and an evangelist from Australia who's born with no arms and legs. He started speaking and motivating students through schools and he became famous for sharing his awesome testimony and encouraging people with his famous line, TRY AGAIN.

This event was held in the Smart Araneta Coliseum and we chose to attend the 8PM session. Nick Vujicic was one of the speakers I look up to. I always listen to his podcasts which are very encouraging, you should listen to them too.

Francis Kong started the session. He is one of the famous inspirational speakers in the Philippines. The event started with his introduction and then he started his talk. This is not the usual Christian conference I attend to, usually the event starts with a praise and worship, with a band playing and all. But this didn't which is pretty cool.

Francis Kong talked about how to manage stress, how to take on life, how to take a risk and live your life to the fullest. These are some of his inspirational words that caught my attention tonight:

I apologize if the photos are not that good

"To be successful is an outcome, nothing worth while comes easy."

"Never feel sorry for yourself, it can make wrong decisions"

 "As long as may trabaho ka, may dangal ka. As long as hindi ka nagnanakaw" (As long as you have a proper job, you have your dignity. As long as you don't steal from others.) 

"Never let an old flame burn you twice"

 "Always give more than what you paid for"

"Comfort destroys usefulness" 

"There are instant noodles, instant coffees, and etc. But there is no such thing as an instant success"

So basically, Francis Kong talked about never giving up, and no matter what type of job you have, you must not feel sorry for yourself. Be happy, be contented. Strive hard, dream big. It's never too late to have a brand new beginning. He ended with the sentence "We all have one life to live, live it well. Life is a one time deal, but life on the other side of this planet is eternal."

I love Mr. Francis Kong's wittiness and how he makes everyone participate.


Now for the main event, Nick Vujicic started the session by taking a photo with the crowd. He was always cracking jokes, and I must admit. I was in owe seeing him, the man who inspired me to try again.

The lights were blocking the projector :(

His session talked about never giving up. He shared stories from his past experiences, how he was bullied in school. How he started to speak in schools and being rejected over and over and over again.

When he was born, his parents didn't know why he was born that way, the doctors didn't know why he was born that way, and even Lady Gaga didn't know why he was born that way (he said jokingly)
There are three things that would help you get through life, faith, family, and friends. Those are the most important things you must hold on to.

The whole session, he basically talked about how encouraging other people can make a lot of difference. He also left these questions hanging "Who are you? What do you want? And what are you gonna do next?

Nick's advice to the Filipinos is to Study the word, let it spread as long as we have the freedom to do so. Let every church be united and help one another. Stop putting a fellow Filipino down but encourage them. He was also consistent about encouraging people to visit an orphanage, visit hospitals with cancer patients, change their lives and be a part of their life, it will truly help you appreciate what you have and be more thankful.

This part struck me the most when Nick counted 30 seconds, and said "you have 30 seconds to breathe, 25... 20... That's it. How did you forgive people? How did you love people? How did you serve people? Were you patient with your wife? When was the last time you took her out on a date? When was the last time you did an activity with your kids? Don't just ask them about school, talk to them. Play games with them. 5 seconds.. Did you live your life well? How will you be remembered?"

I almost cried because I have been taking my life for granted. Not appreciating my parent's sacrifice. Buying things to satisfy me yet left unfulfilled. Always being angry with my partner and not appreciating the things he does for me. Facing my phone all day, connecting with thousands of people, yet not having a long conversation with my mom. That really hit me hard. How am I gonna be remembered? I wanted to do something out of the box, but I'm too scared of being uncomfortable. I'm too scared of being laughed at. I'm just too scared! And that's the point of this talk that no matter how hard you failed, you get back up. You can always try again! Never, ever be afraid to fail.

His talk encouraged me a lot and the challenge now is how would I apply it. I couldn't fit everything in this blog post but please visit his website http://www.lifewithoutlimbs.org/ and listen to his podcasts if you want to be encouraged. That's it for today, I hope you were encouraged as well! Let me know what you think.