So how’s your year been? Are you ending it with satisfaction? Disappointment? Looking at my long to-do list for 2015, I think I haven’t checked off nearly enough. Big issues needed tackling. Big goals to accomplish. And despite thousands of tasks completed, big things remain. Honestly, I could be discouraged. You too?

Nick Vujicic was born with no arms and no legs. Fortunately, he says, he was born to a good family ~ his mother was a nurse and knew what he needed. By 8 years old, though, he had compiled a massive list of things he’d never have or do, and faced suicidal thoughts.

Yet by age 23 he had graduated college, dabbled in real estate investing, and was a powerful motivational speaker who inspires his audience with wisdom and humor. At 33 he’s also an author and actor who enjoys painting and swimming. And he’s married and has two sons.

What changed? He said three things ~ perspective, vision, and choices. Especially pertinent as I look at my list for 2015 are these words about his dreams and vision for the future: “It’s coming as long as I keep moving forward … in baby steps.”

This man, who has no legs, speaks these words as he inches across a table to reach a telephone (which he flicks off the cradle and catches on his shoulder). I read that Nick keeps a pair of shoes in his closet because he believes in miracles!

Well, if this young man with no arms, no legs, can strut around on stage, encourage thousands to persevere in their dreams and reach their fullest potential, and hope for his miracle ~~ then I can buck up and, with a smile and good cheer, create a new list of goals that help build a foundation under my castle-in-the-air (or Scotland) dreams.

The focus word that God gave me for 2015 is CHOICE.  With gratitude I’m choosing to look beyond my tattered list, unmet goals, and creased dreams and keep moving forward. What’s hobbling you as you step into 2016?

Perhaps this quote will nudge us both to keep moving:

Success will never be a big step in the future, success is a small step taken just now.  ~Jonatan Mårtensson

See more about Nick Vujicic at Life Without Limbs or hear him speak by video here.