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“If a man without arms and legs is dreaming big why can’t we, why can’t we all?” -Nick Vujicic
When I was attending high school, I rise earlier than the morning light to prevent myself from getting late since our home is located miles away from where I was studying. I complained to myself about the banal routine I had. I felt lazy and unmotivated to join my morning classes. I hated the idea that I am bound to ride tricycles for the rest of my high school years. I became tired of the same passengers I ride with and the unchanging view I see along the way.
Until I saw Vincent Mendoza, a boy with no feet and legs, riding his skateboard, and paddling on the road using his hands. Racing alongside vehicles alone. We both went to the same high school but it took me long to realize that we were schoolmates. This encounter somehow connects to a trite story of a child who complained about not having shoes to wear, until he met another child who doesn’t have legs. I was that child who moans about not having shoes.
Vincent is the only view I saw that morning that inspired me to write a story which might change how we look at life. He was born with only half of his body. And just like the parents of Nick Vujicic (a man who was also born without arms and legs that soon travelled the world and gave motivational talks to millions of people), Vincent's parents found it difficult to accept that their son has a great disability, that he will not be able to play like any other normal boy and that he will grow up different. Feared worst, he might become a laughing stock and a subject of bullying.
True enough, such fear materialized. Children his age would call him “pungkot” or a person who has incomplete body parts. His elementary peers would tease and bully him. He would cry in silence, asking God as to why of all the people, it’s him who has to suffer such disability.
“Pag elementary nako everyday ko i-bully. Ig uli nako (sa balay) kay mohilak ko then mangutana kay Lord nganong ako man sa kadaghang tawo,” as Vincent relates his story.
When everyone found it hard to accept who he is, he also found it difficult to give up hope.
He didn’t quit studying. Thanks to the bullies, he made it through high school. People tease him because he is different without knowing that his “being different” is what makes all the difference. Vincent didn’t permit the flame of his dream burn out. If he did, he wouldn’t be in college now, pursuing a degree in computer engineering.
“Moadto ko ug simbahan every Sunday. Pag-ampo gyud akong weapon sa una. Salig ta sa Ginoo. Ma-realize nimo nga nindot kaayo ang kinabuhi. (I go to church every Sunday. I made prayer as my weapon. All we have to do is trust God. Only then you will realize how beautiful life is),” he says, with a bold emphasis on “God”.
He sees reality on his own perspective. God didn’t give him legs so others could have it. He didn’t give him feet so others could walk them. Vincent, having no legs and feet, is not a curse but a gift. While others see it as a disability, he sees it as his greatest ability. Throw him into a forest and he’ll come back bringing meat.
When I let him see a video of Nick Vujicic standing on top of the table facing a huge crowd and asked him if he knew Nick, he immediately answered, “kaila man ko ani niya. Kita ko's iyang mga video. Sikat man na siya nga speaker, na-inspired pud ko ana niya. (I know him. I’ve seen his videos. He’s a very famous speaker, he also inspires me.)”
Vincent may not have legs and feet but he certainly walks the farthest journey none of us could travel. He'd rather walk feetless than faithless. For him, a person is not truly disabled if they won’t allow their disability to disable them. Our existence has a reason. Mark Twain even said, “The two most important days in your life are the day you are born and the day you find out why.”
To know that reason, we need to defocus our eyes from setbacks so that we could see the totality of the picture, of the view. Only then we can start making a clear path. For Vincent, he has decided to be successful already and claim his degree in computer engineering, and to one day meet Nick Vujicic, the man who gave him reasons to keep the wheels of his skateboard working.
“Bisan ug unsa ka. Complete man ka o dili, dili man basehan ang lawas sa tawo para mangandoy. (Whatever you are. Whether you are a disabled person or not, physical appearance would never be the basis for man to dream big). Try, try to pursue your dream and always pray to God. Trust Him,” he adds.
Amid the struggles the coronavirus pandemic has brought, and his mother being the only one who puts food on the table of a family of nine, Vincent refuses to not attend online classes. Stressful, he admits. But he says there is no keeping him back from his goals because he believes that adversities are not walls but doors. Challenges don’t pile up to become a roadblock. Challenges piece together to form a bridge. We only need to see them that way. Life is synonymous to struggles and when it throws you lemons, don’t make lemonade. Dodge the lemons. Don’t get stuck with them. Move on to something worthy to suffer. The reason why Vincent weathers the storm while most people do not, it’s because rainbows come after the rain yet many of us love only the rainbow, never the rain.
Photo from Andre Erasmo and Vincent Mendoza
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