Daisy Luna

Mrs. Belmonte
AP English Language and Composition
Life without limits
by Nic !u"icic
#. $ My father went wea with a shoc and anguish. %e sat stunned& momentarily
unable to spea before his protecti'e instinct iced in. %e rushed in to tell my
mother before she saw me& but to his dismay he found her lying in bed& crying.
(he staff had already told her the bad news. (hey had offered to bring me to her
but she refused to hold me and told them to tae me away. (he nurses where
crying. (he midwife was crying. And ofcourse & ) was crying* +inally they put me
ne,t to her& still co'ered& and my mum "ust couldn-t bear what she was seeing.
her child without limbs. $ (ae him away$& she said& $) dont want to touch him or
see him.$/01
) was drawn to this passage because e'en though this happened when Nic was
born he was told this by his parents when he was thirteen. (his was the start of
what !u"icic was going to go through while growing up. At the moment of birth his
mom did not want to accept the fact that he was born without llimbs and did not
ha'e the courage to see him or e'en touch him. 2ho would ha'e thought that
the denial of his mom was not going to be the first and last time he would be
looed different upon. it was "ust a pee of what he would suffer by others. At that
moment she was concentrated on how her son looed and the limitations he was
going to ha'e while growing up which is the way that many people 'iewed him
because he was not lie them
3..$ +aith is defined in the Bible as the substance of things hoped for& the
e'idence of things not seen. 4ou and ) could not li'e without faith& without putting
our trust in something for which we ha'e no proof. Most often we tal about faith
in terms of religious beliefs& but out there are many other types of faith that are
part of each day. As a Christain& ) li'e according to my belief in 5od. E'en though
) can-t see %im or touch %im& ) now in my heart that %e e,ists& and out my future
in %is hands. ) don-t now who holds tomorrow.$/031
(he reason why ) chose this 6uote was because it includes who the author
'alues and in my opinion e,plains why the author is the way he is and has come
to be. (he author e,plains to us his readers that their are diferent types of faith
and we cannot li'e without ha'ing faith or putting our trust in something that we
ha'e no proof of. (hen he tells us who his faith is in. %e says that he cant see
him or touch him but but 5od is still in his heart. (his shows how big 5od is for
him and what he means in !u"icic-s life. +or !u"icic to say that his faith is in 5od
and that his future is in 5ods hands it must be because 5od plays a huge part in
his life and he nows that what e'er it may be that he has to go through he will
not go thorugh it alone beause his faith is in 5od.
7. $2hether you are aware of it or not& you 'iew the world through your own
uni6ue perspectii'es or attiitudes based on your beliefs of what is good or bad&
wrong or right& fair or unfair. 4our decisions and actions are based on those
attitudes& so if what you-'e been doing isn-t woring& you ha'e the power to
ad"ust your attitude and change your life. (hin your attitude as the remote
control for your tele'ision set. )f the program you are watching doesn-t do
anything for you& then you simply grab the remote and change it. 4ou can ad"ust
your attitude in much the same way when you aren-t getting the results you want&
no matter what challenges you encounter.$ /8#1
) chose this passage because of the strong importance that it has and the
con'incing comparason e,ample that is being introduced. 2e do many things
without really thining what the outcome will be and then we go around saying
negati'e things about e'erything and e'ery one. (hese things can be changed
depending on how you 'iew the world and that is what !u"icic tells us in this
passage& that how you act is based on how you 'iew the world. !u"icic tells us
that our attitide is lie a remote control.(he program that we are watching
represents the moments in ur li'es and when !u"icic sais that all we ha'e to do is
change the program he means that we ha'e to change that moment we are on
and mae a new one because the pre'ios one is not what we wanted. 2hen we
are in a moment of our li'es and we are not getting the results we want all we
ha'e to do is change what you are currently doing in order to get the results that
you want. %e sais that we often say that life is unfair but the only one who can
really turn that around is yourself with your attitude towards the world
9. $ My parents say ) thought myself to rise up from a hori:ontal position as a
toddler. (hey-d put pillows down and coa, me to brace against them. But ) had to
do it my way& the hard way& of course. )nstead of using pillows& )-d crawl to a wall
or a chair or couch wedge my forhead against it to get le'erage& then inch myself
up. )t-s not the easiest thing to do. (ry it if you lie. 5et on the floor on your
stomach and try to rise to your nees without using your arms or legs for
le'erage. 4ou dont feel 'ery grateful& do you; But what feels better& rising up or
staying down; (hat-s because you weren-t made to wollow on the ground. 4ou
were made to rise again and again and again until you ha'e fully unleashed your
potential.$/#3<1
(his passage stood out to me because it shows the significance of one to to try
and get what you want rather than "ust wait and see if you get the outcome you
e,pect. !u"icic thought himself to rise up from a hori:ontal position as a toddler
e'en if his parents helped him by putting pillows down so he could brace against
them . %im being eager to rise up is how he did. )f he would ha'e not tried and
depended on his parents mo'ing him around he would ha'e not gotten any
where and thats what he tells his readers. %e tells his readers to get on the floor
on their stomach and try to rise to their nees without using their arms for
le'erage so they can physically reali:e that it is not easy to get on their nees but
when they do they will reali:e that after the struggle it was worth it because they
got up rather than staying on the ground and not trying at all. At the end he uses
short but effecti'e ad'ise with the readers telling them that they were not made to
mo'e on the ground because all they will do it stay there. 2hat they ha'e to do is
get up so you can see the potential that you ha'e inside.
0.$ =adly& we are often slow to recgogni:e the need to mae a mo'e. 2e settle
into a routine& e'en if it isn-t all that comfortable& and we choose inaction o'er
action simply out of la:iness or fear. >ften it taes something really scary to
mae us recogni:e that we need a new plan. My attempted suicide was one such
moment for me. ) had been hanging on for years& putting on a bra'e face most of
the time& but inside ) was haunted by dar thoughts that if ) could not change my
body& )-d en my life. 2hen ) reached the point where ) nearly let myself drown& )
recogni:ed it was time to tae responsibility for my own happiness.$/#9<1
(he reason why ) chose this passage was because it mars a point in !u"icic life
in which he will always ha'e in his memory. %is attemp to suicide was the
moment in which he reali:ed that only he could change his happiness .)f he didn-t
then who would. Nobody has the ey for you to change&only you do. (hat was
the day in which he reali:ed that ha'ing responsibility for his happiness was
going to change many things. )f he woud ha'e ne'er came to the conclusion that
he had to tae responsibility and step up he would still putting on a bra'e face
and inside being haunted. (his taes me bac to the e,amle he ga'e to us
earlyer because he had to let go of his fear in order to climb up that later in which
he didn-t mo'e forward for years. )n the beginning when !i"icic sais that we are
often to slow to mo'e ) e,perienced a connection between myself and what he
said since their are points in which we are not slow physically but mentally when
it comes to mae a change in our life.
?. $ 2hether you ha'e a lot or a little & "ust remember that small acts of indness
can be "st as powerful as big donations. )f you mae a difference in "ust one life&
you-'e done a great ser'ice& because simple indness can start a chain reaction
of simlilar actions& resulting in your effort-s initial results becoming magnified
many times. %ow many times ha'e you had someone do something nice for you
and then& feeling grateful& you turn around and do a indness for someone else;
) belie'e it is part our 5od@gi'en nature to respond in this manner.$/3#91
) was drawn to this passage because !u"icic ass 6uestions to the reader to
mae them come to a conclusion of whether if they help someone in need or not.
%e starts of by maing a comparason between big and small. %e sais that a
small act can be as powerful as a big donation. By telling this to his readers we
get the message that their is no need to gi'e someone something big when
gi'ing someone something as small as an act can ha'e the same impact or e'en
a greater one on a person. At the end of the passage is when !u"icic starts
asing 6uestions to the reader which is where he gets them to thin about what
they do in their li'es when someone does something nice for them. (his made
me thin of myself& since their has been many times in which ) now someone
has helped me in a 'ery special way and ) am 'ery thanful for that and i "ust say
$(han 4ou$ but do not return the act to someone in need . (here are many
times in which ) wish ) could go bac and "ust change those times in which ) could
ha'e done what 5od has called me for. (o ser'e others because it is not that
homeless guy in the street asing me for food to eat& )t is 5od himself.
A.$ 2e humans are a silly bunch. 2e spend our time trying to fit in with the crowd
and the other half trying to stand out from it.$ /<91
E'en if this is a short passage ) chose it because it says much of what is going
on in the world today and what he had to get away from in order to be diferent
from e'eryone else not only in the sence of not ha'ing limbs but in the way that
he acted and the way that he would thin. %e says that we are a silly bunch& and
in conclusion we are. %e uses this metaphor in order to show the readers that we
are a buch of sily people who don-t now how to find our way out the crowd. )f
!u"icic would ha'e "ust listened to what his sorroundings would say then he
would ha'e "ust stayed where e'eryone said he would do. $Nothing$ he would
ha'e ne'er accomplished what he has. %e would try to fit in with his classmates
at shool but then he reali:ed that how would he be different when all he did was
e,acly lie what his sorroundings would do. Being able to stand out and be
different from e'eryone too a lot of courage.
<.$ Life isn-t about ha'ing& it-s about being. 4ou could soround yourself with all
that money can buy& and you-d still be as miserable as a human can be$/381
) was drawn to this passage because the author uses a metaphor in order for his
reader to now the difference between ha'ing and being. !u"icic uses the
metaphor of being sourrounded by money and still being miserable as a human
can be to say that people now a days is all they concentrate on. =ince humans
only concentrate on money and what it can buy that is why we are miserable. 2e
need to concentrate on who we are because that is what will ring us to
becomeBbe . Not ha'ing money.
8. (he Cuote of the Boo.
$(his is a tough stage for many people. )magine you are climbing a roc wall in
the mountains. 4ou are halfway up thee wall& hundreds of feet abo'e the 'alley
floor. 4ou ha'e "ust come to a small ledge. )t-s scary& and now you would be
'ulnerable if the wind piced up or a storm mo'ed it& but on that ledge you ha'e
at least some sence of security. (he problem is that to eep mo'ing up&or e'en to
head bac down& you ha'e to abandon the security of that ledge and reach for
another hold. letting go of that sence of security& howe'er teneous is the
challenge& whether you are roc climbing or taing a new path in life. 4ou ha'e to
release your hold on the old and grab on to the new. Many poeple free:en at this
stage& or they start to mae the mo'e but then get scared and chicen out. )f you
find yourself in this situation& thin of yourself as climing a ladder. to mo'e to the
ne,t rug& you must gi'e up your grip and reach for the ne,t one. Delease& reach&
and raise yourself up& one rung at a time*$/#981
+rom the moment you start reading this boo until the end it is filled with many
powerful words from the author but ) particularly chose this 6uote because in my
opinion it wraps up what you ha'e to be willing to do in order to do e'erything
that you want in life which is the purpose of this boo. (he author uses a ladder
as a e,ample for the reader to analyse that if you dont climb up that latter you will
not go anywhwere. )f you hold on the latter it is a symbol of the problems you are
holding on that are not letting you continue& but once you let them go and focus
on what you will be doing to continue mo'ing forward you will be able to
acomplish what you want. E'erything that Nic !u"icic is able to do is thans to
letting his past behind. )f he would ha'e concentrated in him being bullied and
looed as if he was a alien by others he would ha'e been dead since he wanted
to tae his own life away because of that . Being born without limbs is was not
only tough for his parents but for him most of all since it was oing to be him
waling up that latter. %e was the one being looed diferent. )n the beggining of
this 6uote !u"icic tals to the reader telling them to imagine themsel'es in a
situation& by taling to his readers he builds a connection with them because its
not only about him and what he went through but what his readers are going
through.
Deflecti'e letter. ) always said to myself that the only boos ) really enoyed
reading were about couples. Couples and their romance but after reading this
boo ) came to reali:e that ) lie other boos rather than "ust about romance.
2hen ) was searching for a boo to read ) said ) would read something with my
religion that way ) would not be rushing last minute trying to finish my boo and
thats e,acly what happened. 2hen ) first started reading Life without limits )
new it was a boo would en"oy reading. )t was not about finishing the assigment
anymore but reading more and more because ) was actually en"oying the boo.
(he way the author wrote was what ) en"oyed the most since you usually ha'e
writters telling you how you should li'e your life and steps you might want to
follow and the way they write is so complicted to understand. =ometimes you
waste more time trying to understand what they wrote than actually doing what
they meant to tell you. Nics stories of tra'eling around the world always had a
message behing them and what ) found ama:ing about him was that he didnt
limit himself to obsolutely anything "ust because he had no limbs& )n the other had
that was what ept him going& and once he found out that he had no limits he
decided to go around the world to all those people who are in need of that
miracle. (hat miracle of them reali:ing the same thing that Nic saw. (hrought
the year in my English class their were assigments that ) en"oyed but this one )
ha'e to say is my fa'orite because ) learned much more than all the other
assigments and nowing that the author belie'es in the same 5od as ) do maes
me belie'e that he was not only used to mae mirales in other peoples lifes but in
mine as well. (heres points in which ) feel leftot in my class and e'en in the
school because ) feel that e'eryone loos at me differently for who ) belie'e in
but after reading this boo ) reali:ed that )t doesn-t matter what others thin about
who you are. 4ou ha'e to show them why you act and are the way you you. )
than my teacher for gi'ing us this assigment of the )ndependent reading
because if it wasn-t for that ) would ha'e not read this boo. ) would still be stuc
in only reading romantic no'els that at the end of reading them ) get nothing out
of. ) would ha'e not had the curiosity of nowing that ) ha'e to read other boos
and not "udgr them heir co'er. After finishing the boo ) ha'e to admit that )
started telling e'eryone how worthy of a boo it is to read . (his is a boo that will
change the way you 'iew a negati'e circumstance in your life & mae you reali:e
that it doesn-t matter how you loo beacuse there is absolutely no problem with
how you loo. )f you are how e'er you are its for a reason* (hats why ) highly
recomend this boo to anybody.