0:00:18.799,0:00:23.715
Life is about opportunities,[br]creating them, and embracing them

0:00:23.715,0:00:26.830
and for me that was the Olympic dream,

0:00:26.830,0:00:29.896
that's what defined me, that was my bliss.

0:00:30.570,0:00:34.096
As a cross-country skier and a member[br]of the Australian ski team

0:00:34.096,0:00:35.890
headed toward the Winter Olympics,

0:00:35.890,0:00:39.931
I was on a training bike ride[br]with my fellow teammates.

0:00:39.931,0:00:42.692
As we made our way up[br]towards the spectacular

0:00:42.692,0:00:44.822
Blue Mountains west of Sydney

0:00:44.822,0:00:47.588
it was the perfect autumn day:

0:00:47.588,0:00:51.672
sunshine, the smell of eucalypt,[br]and a dream.

0:00:51.672,0:00:53.263
Life was good.

0:00:53.263,0:00:55.839
We'd been on our bikes[br]around five and a half hours

0:00:55.839,0:00:58.325
when we got to the part[br]of the ride that I loved,

0:00:58.325,0:01:01.502
and that was the hills,[br]because I loved the hills.

0:01:01.502,0:01:03.464
And I got up off the seat of my bike

0:01:03.464,0:01:06.913
and I started pumping my legs[br]and as I sucked in the cold mountain air,

0:01:06.913,0:01:08.956
I could feel it burning my lungs

0:01:08.956,0:01:12.414
and I looked up to see the sun[br]shining in my face.

0:01:13.115,0:01:15.794
And then everything went black.

0:01:16.616,0:01:18.035
Where was I?

0:01:18.035,0:01:19.421
What was happening?

0:01:19.421,0:01:22.047
My body was consumed by pain.

0:01:23.073,0:01:26.178
I'd been hit by a speeding utility truck

0:01:26.178,0:01:29.306
with only 10 minutes[br]to go on the bike ride.

0:01:29.306,0:01:31.599
I was airlifted from the scene[br]of the accident

0:01:31.599,0:01:34.636
by a rescue helicopter[br]to a large spinal unit in Sydney.

0:01:34.636,0:01:38.131
I had extensive[br]and life threatening injuries.

0:01:38.131,0:01:42.013
I'd broken my neck[br]and my back in six places.

0:01:42.013,0:01:45.643
I broke five ribs on my left side,[br]I broke my right arm,

0:01:45.643,0:01:49.553
I broke my collarbone,[br]I broke some bones in my feet.

0:01:49.553,0:01:52.523
My whole right side[br]was ripped open filled with gravel.

0:01:52.523,0:01:54.476
My head was cut open across the front,

0:01:54.476,0:01:56.931
lifted back,[br]exposing the skull underneath.

0:01:56.931,0:02:00.016
I had head injuries, internal injuries,[br]I had massive blood loss.

0:02:00.016,0:02:02.147
In fact, I lost about 5 liters of blood

0:02:02.147,0:02:04.881
which is all someone my size[br]would actually hold.

0:02:04.881,0:02:08.288
By the time the helicopter arrived[br]to Prince Henry Hospital in Sydney,

0:02:08.288,0:02:11.329
my blood pressure was forty over nothing.

0:02:12.081,0:02:14.729
I was having a really bad day.

0:02:14.729,0:02:17.526
(Laughter)

0:02:21.004,0:02:25.987
For over 10 days,[br]I drifted between two dimensions.

0:02:25.987,0:02:28.745
I had an awareness of being in my body,

0:02:28.745,0:02:30.573
but also being out of my body

0:02:30.573,0:02:32.325
somewhere else watching from above,

0:02:32.325,0:02:34.251
as if it was happening[br]to someone else.

0:02:34.251,0:02:37.699
Why would I want to go back[br]to a body that was so broken?

0:02:37.699,0:02:42.511
But this voice kept calling me,[br]"Come on, stay with me."

0:02:42.818,0:02:45.467
"No, it's too hard."

0:02:45.467,0:02:48.626
"Come on, this is our opportunity."

0:02:48.626,0:02:52.748
"No! That body is broken.[br]It can no longer serve me!"

0:02:52.748,0:02:56.885
"Come on, stay with me.[br]We can do it! We can do it together."

0:02:57.531,0:03:00.041
I was at a crossroads.

0:03:00.041,0:03:04.861
I knew if I didn't return to my body,[br]I'd have to leave this world forever.

0:03:04.861,0:03:07.385
It was the fight of my life.

0:03:08.261,0:03:13.191
After 10 days, I made the decision[br]to return to my body,

0:03:13.191,0:03:16.253
and the internal bleeding stopped.

0:03:16.971,0:03:20.336
The next concern[br]was weather I would walk again

0:03:20.336,0:03:23.006
because I was paralyzed[br]from the waist down.

0:03:23.006,0:03:25.988
They said to my parents,[br]the neck break was a stable fracture,

0:03:25.988,0:03:27.769
but the back was completely crushed.

0:03:27.769,0:03:30.746
The vertebra at L1 was like[br]you'd dropped a peanut,

0:03:30.746,0:03:34.777
stepped on it, and smashed it[br]into thousands of pieces.

0:03:34.777,0:03:37.072
They'd have to operate.

0:03:37.072,0:03:39.631
They went in, they put me on a bean bag,

0:03:39.631,0:03:41.784
they cut me, literally cut me in half.

0:03:41.784,0:03:45.076
I have a scar that wraps around[br]my entire body.

0:03:45.076,0:03:48.032
They picked as much broken bone[br]as they could

0:03:48.032,0:03:49.808
that had lodged in my spinal cord.

0:03:49.808,0:03:53.843
They took out two of my broken ribs,[br]and they rebuilt my back, L1.

0:03:53.843,0:03:55.063
They rebuilt it.

0:03:55.063,0:03:57.050
They took out another broken rib.

0:03:57.050,0:04:00.984
They fused T12, L1, and L2 together,[br]then they stitched me up.

0:04:00.984,0:04:03.092
They took an entire hour to stitch me up.

0:04:03.092,0:04:04.661
I woke up in intensive care

0:04:04.661,0:04:08.314
and the doctors were really excited[br]that the operation had been a success

0:04:08.314,0:04:11.912
because at that stage, I had a little bit[br]of movement in one of my big toes

0:04:11.912,0:04:14.858
and I thought, "Great![br]Because I'm going to the Olympics!"

0:04:14.858,0:04:16.901
(Laughter)

0:04:16.901,0:04:18.787
I had no idea.

0:04:18.787,0:04:21.495
That's the sort of thing[br]that happens to someone else!

0:04:21.495,0:04:22.665
Not me, surely.

0:04:22.665,0:04:25.021
But then the doctor came over[br]to me and she said,

0:04:25.021,0:04:27.768
"Janine, the operation was a success,

0:04:27.768,0:04:31.160
and we've picked as much bone[br]out of your spinal cord as we could,

0:04:31.160,0:04:32.755
but the damage is permanent."

0:04:32.755,0:04:35.288
The central nervous system nerves,[br]there is no cure.

0:04:36.238,0:04:38.284
You're what we call a partial paraplegic

0:04:38.284,0:04:42.110
and you'll have all of the injuries[br]that go along with that.

0:04:42.110,0:04:44.474
You have no feeling from the waist down

0:04:44.474,0:04:48.266
and at most you might get[br]10 or 20% return.

0:04:48.266,0:04:50.985
You'll have internal injures[br]for the rest of your life.

0:04:50.985,0:04:54.404
You'll have to use a catheter[br]for the rest of your life

0:04:54.404,0:04:59.078
and if you walk again, it will be[br]with calipers and a walking frame."

0:04:59.078,0:05:03.062
And then she said, "Janine, you'll have[br]to rethink everything you do in your life

0:05:03.062,0:05:08.164
because you're never going to be able[br]to do the things you did before."

0:05:08.164,0:05:10.504
I tried to grasp what she was saying.

0:05:10.504,0:05:13.300
I was an athlete.[br]That's all I knew, that's all I'd done,

0:05:13.300,0:05:16.262
if I couldn't do that,[br]then what could I do?

0:05:16.262,0:05:21.548
And the question I asked myself is:[br]if I couldn't do that, then who was I?

0:05:25.409,0:05:29.448
They moved me from intensive care[br]to acute spinal.

0:05:29.448,0:05:32.832
I was lying on a thin, hard spinal bed.[br]I had no movement in my legs.

0:05:32.832,0:05:36.519
I had tight stocking on[br]to protect from blood clots.

0:05:36.519,0:05:39.411
I had one arm in plaster,[br]one arm tied down by drips.

0:05:39.411,0:05:42.284
I had a neck brace and sand bags[br]on either side of my head,

0:05:42.284,0:05:44.236
and I saw my world through a mirror

0:05:44.236,0:05:47.314
that was suspended above my head.

0:05:47.314,0:05:50.391
I shared the ward with five other people

0:05:50.652,0:05:52.649
and the amazing thing is that

0:05:52.649,0:05:55.649
because we were all lying paralyzed[br]in the spinal ward

0:05:55.649,0:05:58.190
we didn't know[br]what each other looked like.

0:05:58.190,0:05:59.974
How amazing is that?

0:05:59.974,0:06:05.675
How often in life do you get to make[br]friendships judgement free,

0:06:05.675,0:06:08.158
purely based on spirit?

0:06:09.124,0:06:11.388
And there no superficial conversations,

0:06:11.388,0:06:14.553
as we shared our innermost thoughts,[br]our fears,

0:06:14.553,0:06:18.336
and our hopes for life[br]after the spinal ward.

0:06:19.392,0:06:23.304
I remember one night,[br]one of the nurses came in, Jonathan,

0:06:23.304,0:06:26.113
with a whole lot of plastic straws.

0:06:26.113,0:06:28.384
He put a pile on top of each of us,[br]and he said,

0:06:28.384,0:06:31.363
"Start threading them together."

0:06:31.363,0:06:35.625
Well, there wasn't much else to do[br]in the spinal ward, so we did.

0:06:35.625,0:06:38.441
And when we'd finished,[br]he went around silently

0:06:38.441,0:06:41.243
and he joined all of the straws up

0:06:41.243,0:06:43.920
till it looped around the whole ward

0:06:43.920,0:06:48.596
and then he said,[br]"Okay everybody, hold on to your straws."

0:06:48.596,0:06:49.984
And we did.

0:06:49.984,0:06:54.183
And he said, "Right.[br]Now we are all connected."

0:06:55.214,0:06:59.536
And as we held on and we breathed as one,

0:07:00.758,0:07:04.084
we knew we weren't on this journey alone.

0:07:05.265,0:07:09.872
And even lying paralyzed[br]in the spinal ward,

0:07:09.872,0:07:12.033
there were moments of incredible depth

0:07:12.033,0:07:16.152
and richness,[br]of authenticity and connection,

0:07:16.841,0:07:19.484
that I had never experienced before.

0:07:20.807,0:07:25.118
And each of us knew[br]that when we left the spinal ward,

0:07:25.702,0:07:28.188
we would never be the same.

0:07:30.464,0:07:33.447
After six months, it was time to go home.

0:07:33.729,0:07:37.339
I remember dad pushing me outside[br]in my wheelchair

0:07:37.339,0:07:40.301
wrapped in a plaster body cast

0:07:40.301,0:07:43.789
and feeling the sun on my face[br]for the first time.

0:07:43.789,0:07:45.786
I soaked it up and I thought,

0:07:45.786,0:07:48.786
"How could I ever have taken this[br]for granted?"

0:07:49.676,0:07:52.609
I felt so incredibly grateful for my life.

0:07:53.055,0:07:55.920
But before I left hospital,[br]the head nurse had said to me,

0:07:55.920,0:07:59.252
"Janine, I want you to be ready[br]because when you get home

0:07:59.252,0:08:00.772
something is going to happen."

0:08:00.772,0:08:01.917
And I said, "What?"

0:08:01.917,0:08:04.480
She said, "You're going to get depressed."

0:08:04.480,0:08:07.604
And I said, "Not me, not[br]'Janine the machine'"

0:08:07.604,0:08:09.269
which was my nickname.

0:08:09.269,0:08:12.287
She said "You are. Because, see,[br]it happens to everyone.

0:08:12.287,0:08:15.255
In the spinal ward, that's normal.

0:08:15.255,0:08:17.196
You're in a wheelchair, that's normal.

0:08:17.196,0:08:20.348
But you're going to get home[br]and realize how different life is."

0:08:20.348,0:08:24.016
And I got home, and something happened.

0:08:26.243,0:08:29.163
I realized Sister Sam was right.

0:08:29.952,0:08:32.352
I did get depressed.

0:08:32.783,0:08:36.573
I was in my wheelchair,[br]I had no feeling from the waist down,

0:08:36.573,0:08:39.505
attached to a catheter bottle,[br]I couldn't walk.

0:08:40.130,0:08:44.644
I'd lost so much weight in hospital,[br]I now weighed about 80 pounds.

0:08:46.295,0:08:48.144
And I wanted to give up.

0:08:48.144,0:08:50.434
All I wanted to do was[br]put my running shoes on

0:08:50.434,0:08:51.971
and run out the door.

0:08:51.971,0:08:55.245
I wanted my old life back.[br]I wanted my body back.

0:08:55.245,0:08:57.833
And I could remember mum[br]sitting on the end of my bed

0:08:57.833,0:09:01.674
and saying, "I wonder if life[br]will ever be good again?"

0:09:01.674,0:09:04.176
And I thought, "How could it?

0:09:04.176,0:09:07.176
Because I've lost everything[br]that I valued,

0:09:07.892,0:09:11.529
everything that I'd worked towards...[br]gone."

0:09:12.813,0:09:17.385
And the question I asked was:[br]Why me? Why me?

0:09:17.794,0:09:21.860
And then I remembered[br]my friends that were still

0:09:21.860,0:09:23.230
in the spinal ward.

0:09:23.709,0:09:25.724
Particularly Maria.

0:09:25.724,0:09:27.999
Maria was in a car accident[br]and she woke up

0:09:27.999,0:09:31.391
on her 16th birthday to the news[br]that she was a complete quadriplegic,

0:09:32.580,0:09:34.518
had no movement from the neck down,

0:09:34.518,0:09:37.450
had damage to her vocal cords[br]and she couldn't talk.

0:09:39.099,0:09:41.404
They told me, "We are going to move you[br]next to her

0:09:41.404,0:09:44.404
because we think it will be good to her."

0:09:44.404,0:09:48.616
I was worried. I didn't know[br]how I'd react being next to her.

0:09:48.616,0:09:51.343
I knew it would be challenging,[br]but it was actually

0:09:51.343,0:09:55.727
a blessing because Maria always smiled.

0:09:57.711,0:10:01.379
She was always happy,[br]and even when she began to talk again,

0:10:02.308,0:10:04.530
albeit difficult to understand,

0:10:04.530,0:10:07.591
she never complained. Not once.

0:10:07.913,0:10:13.795
And I wondered how had she ever[br]found that level of acceptance?

0:10:13.795,0:10:18.195
And I realized[br]that this wasn't just my life.

0:10:18.195,0:10:20.362
It was life itself.

0:10:20.375,0:10:24.801
I realized that this wasn't just my pain,[br]it was everybody's pain.

0:10:24.801,0:10:29.702
And then I knew, just like before,[br]that I had a choice.

0:10:30.531,0:10:34.723
I could keep fighting this[br]or I could let go and accept

0:10:35.558,0:10:39.985
not only my body,[br]but the circumstances of my life.

0:10:40.631,0:10:44.158
And then I stopped asking, "Why me?"

0:10:44.158,0:10:48.071
and I started to ask, "Why not me?"

0:10:48.071,0:10:52.086
And then I thought to myself[br]maybe being at rock bottom

0:10:52.086,0:10:55.251
is actually the perfect place to start.

0:10:58.996,0:11:02.470
I had never before thought[br]of myself as a creative person.

0:11:02.470,0:11:05.512
I was an athlete, my body was a machine.

0:11:06.788,0:11:10.619
But now, I was about to embark[br]on the most creative project

0:11:10.619,0:11:12.949
any of us could ever do.

0:11:12.949,0:11:15.487
That of rebuilding a life.

0:11:16.080,0:11:19.858
And even though I had absolutely[br]no idea what I was going to do,

0:11:19.858,0:11:23.827
in that uncertainty,[br]came a sense of freedom.

0:11:23.827,0:11:26.072
I was no longer tied to a set path.

0:11:26.072,0:11:31.116
I was free to explore[br]life's infinite possibilities.

0:11:32.448,0:11:36.535
And that realization[br]was about to change my life.

0:11:38.745,0:11:43.380
Sitting at home, in my wheelchair[br]and my plaster body cast,

0:11:43.380,0:11:46.054
an airplane flew overhead

0:11:46.665,0:11:49.118
and I looked up and I thought to myself,

0:11:49.118,0:11:53.556
"That's it! If I can't walk,[br]then I might as well fly!"

0:11:54.728,0:11:57.428
I said, "Mum, I'm going to learn[br]how to fly!"

0:11:57.428,0:11:59.439
She said, "That's nice, dear."

0:11:59.439,0:12:01.256
(Laughter)

0:12:01.256,0:12:03.827
I said, "Pass me the yellow pages."

0:12:03.827,0:12:06.662
She passed me the phone book,[br]I rang up the flying school,

0:12:06.662,0:12:10.367
I made a booking, said, "I'd like to make[br]a booking to come out for a flight."

0:12:10.367,0:12:12.527
They said, "When do you want to come out?"

0:12:12.527,0:12:15.014
I said, "Well I have to get[br]a friend to drive me out

0:12:15.014,0:12:17.964
because I can't drive, haha,[br]sort of can't walk either, ha.

0:12:17.964,0:12:18.904
Is that a problem?"

0:12:18.904,0:12:21.503
I made a booking,[br]and weeks later my friend Chris

0:12:21.503,0:12:23.419
and my mom drove me out to the airport.

0:12:23.419,0:12:24.680
All 80 pounds of me,

0:12:24.680,0:12:27.527
covered in a plaster body cast[br]and a baggy pair of overalls.

0:12:27.527,0:12:30.104
I can tell you I did not look[br]like the ideal candidate

0:12:30.104,0:12:31.376
to get a pilot's license.

0:12:31.376,0:12:32.862
(Laughter)

0:12:32.862,0:12:35.453
I'm holding onto the counter[br]because I can't stand.

0:12:35.453,0:12:37.573
I said, "Hi![br]I'm here for a flying lesson."

0:12:37.573,0:12:40.713
And they took one look and ran out[br]the back to draw short straws.

0:12:40.713,0:12:41.997
"You get her!"

0:12:41.997,0:12:44.193
"No, no! You take her!"

0:12:44.193,0:12:45.663
Finally this guy comes out,

0:12:45.663,0:12:48.117
"Hi! I'm Andrew[br]and I'm going to take you flying."

0:12:48.117,0:12:48.868
I go, "Great!"

0:12:48.868,0:12:50.038
So they drive me down.

0:12:50.038,0:12:51.568
They get me out on the tarmac,

0:12:51.568,0:12:53.929
and there was this red,[br]white, and blue airplane.

0:12:53.929,0:12:54.792
It was beautiful!

0:12:54.792,0:12:56.377
They lifted me into the cockpit.

0:12:56.377,0:12:59.231
They had to slide me up[br]on the wing, put me in the cockpit.

0:12:59.231,0:13:00.218
They sat me down.

0:13:00.218,0:13:02.138
There were buttons and dials everywhere.

0:13:02.138,0:13:05.747
I'm going, "Wow! How do you ever know[br]what all these buttons and dials do?"

0:13:05.747,0:13:08.885
Andrew the instructor got in the front;[br]started the airplane up,

0:13:08.885,0:13:11.332
he said, "Would you like[br]to have a go at taxiing?"

0:13:11.332,0:13:14.141
That's when you use your feet[br]to control the rudder pedals

0:13:14.141,0:13:16.141
to control the airplane on the ground.

0:13:16.141,0:13:18.144
I said, "No. Ha ha, I can't use my legs."

0:13:18.144,0:13:20.386
He went, "Oh." I said,[br]"But I can use my hands."

0:13:20.386,0:13:21.338
And he said, "Okay."

0:13:21.338,0:13:24.026
So he got over to the runway,[br]and he applied the power.

0:13:24.026,0:13:25.829
And as we took off down the runway,

0:13:25.829,0:13:29.163
and the wheels lifted up off the tarmac,[br]and we became airborne

0:13:29.163,0:13:33.453
I had the most incredible[br]sense of freedom.

0:13:33.827,0:13:38.944
And Andrew said to me,[br]as we got over the training area,

0:13:38.944,0:13:41.433
"You see that mountain over there?"

0:13:41.433,0:13:43.220
And I said, "Yeah?"

0:13:43.220,0:13:47.506
And he said, "Well you take the controls,[br]and you fly towards that mountain."

0:13:47.506,0:13:50.589
And as I looked up,[br]I realized that he was pointing

0:13:50.589,0:13:53.029
towards the Blue Mountains,

0:13:53.029,0:13:55.931
where the journey had begun.

0:13:56.663,0:14:00.477
And I took the controls, and I was flying,

0:14:01.158,0:14:04.327
and I was a long,[br]long way from that spinal ward.

0:14:04.327,0:14:07.662
And I knew right then[br]that I was going to be a pilot.

0:14:07.662,0:14:11.585
Didn't know how I'd ever pass[br]a medical, puff,

0:14:11.585,0:14:14.957
but I'd worry about that later[br]because right now I had a dream!

0:14:14.957,0:14:18.840
So I went home, I got a training[br]diary out, and I had a plan.

0:14:18.840,0:14:21.858
And I practiced my walking[br]as much as I could.

0:14:21.858,0:14:25.620
And I went from the point[br]of like two people holding me up,

0:14:25.620,0:14:27.922
to one person holding me up,

0:14:27.922,0:14:30.512
to the point where I could walk[br]around the furniture,

0:14:30.512,0:14:32.352
as long as it wasn't too far apart,

0:14:32.352,0:14:34.636
and then I made great progression[br]to the point

0:14:34.636,0:14:37.723
where I could walk around the house[br]holding onto the walls

0:14:37.723,0:14:40.571
like this, and mum said[br]she was forever following me

0:14:40.571,0:14:42.542
wiping off my fingerprints.

0:14:42.542,0:14:44.390
(Laughter)

0:14:44.390,0:14:47.268
But at least she always knew where I was.

0:14:47.268,0:14:48.681
(Laughter)

0:14:48.681,0:14:51.601
So while the doctors continued to operate,

0:14:51.601,0:14:53.659
and put my body back together again,

0:14:53.659,0:14:56.429
I went on with my theory study,

0:14:56.429,0:15:00.266
and then eventually and amazingly,[br]I passed my pilot's medical.

0:15:00.266,0:15:02.861
And that was my green light to fly.

0:15:02.861,0:15:04.511
And I spend every moment I could

0:15:04.511,0:15:07.116
out of that flying school[br]way out of my comfort zone,

0:15:07.116,0:15:09.084
all these young guys that wanted to be

0:15:09.084,0:15:11.815
Qantas pilots and, you know,[br]little, old hop-along me

0:15:11.815,0:15:14.392
in first my plaster cast,[br]and then my steel brace,

0:15:14.392,0:15:18.877
my baggy overalls, my bag of medication[br]and catheters, and my limp.

0:15:18.877,0:15:20.763
And they used to look at me and think,

0:15:20.763,0:15:24.050
"Oh! Who is she kidding?[br]She is never going to be able to do this!"

0:15:24.050,0:15:26.112
And sometimes I thought that too.

0:15:26.112,0:15:27.745
But that didn't matter

0:15:27.745,0:15:30.273
because now there was something[br]inside that burned

0:15:30.273,0:15:33.715
that far outweighed my injuries.

0:15:34.589,0:15:36.754
And little goals[br]kept me going along the way.

0:15:36.754,0:15:40.164
And eventually I got[br]my private pilot's license,

0:15:40.164,0:15:42.372
and then I learned to navigate,

0:15:42.372,0:15:45.543
and I flew my friends around Australia.

0:15:45.543,0:15:48.179
And then I learned to fly[br]an airplane with two engines,

0:15:48.179,0:15:50.895
and I got my twin engine rating.

0:15:50.895,0:15:54.003
And then I learned to fly[br]in bad weather as well as fine weather

0:15:54.003,0:15:56.742
and got my instrument rating.

0:15:56.742,0:15:59.471
And then I got my commercial[br]pilot's license.

0:15:59.471,0:16:02.405
And then I got my instructor rating.

0:16:02.405,0:16:05.313
And then, I found myself[br]back at that same school

0:16:05.313,0:16:07.895
where I'd gone for that very first flight

0:16:07.895,0:16:10.856
teaching other people how to fly,

0:16:10.856,0:16:15.365
just under 18 months[br]after I'd left the spinal ward.

0:16:15.365,0:16:22.388
(Applause)

0:16:26.767,0:16:28.908
And then I thought, "Why stop there?

0:16:28.908,0:16:31.521
Why not learn to fly upside down?"

0:16:31.984,0:16:33.215
And I did.

0:16:33.215,0:16:34.846
And I learned to fly upside down

0:16:34.846,0:16:37.992
and became and aerobatics[br]flying instructor.

0:16:38.833,0:16:41.876
And mum and dad, never been up.

0:16:42.478,0:16:45.482
(Laughter)

0:16:45.482,0:16:49.056
But then I knew for certain,[br]that although my body

0:16:49.056,0:16:53.485
might be limited, it was my spirit[br]that was unstoppable.

0:16:56.647,0:16:59.465
The philosopher Lao Tzu once said,

0:16:59.966,0:17:02.212
"When you let go of what you are,

0:17:02.212,0:17:04.670
you become what you might be."

0:17:05.464,0:17:08.903
I now know that it wasn't till[br]I let go of who I thought

0:17:08.903,0:17:13.938
I was that I was able to create[br]a completely new life.

0:17:14.603,0:17:19.207
It wasn't till I let go of the life[br]I thought I should have,

0:17:19.707,0:17:21.302
that I was able to embrace

0:17:21.302,0:17:23.701
the life that was waiting for me.

0:17:24.161,0:17:29.495
I now know that my real strength[br]never came from my body.

0:17:30.022,0:17:33.005
And although my physical capabilities

0:17:33.005,0:17:38.429
have changed dramatically,[br]who I am is unchanged.

0:17:39.620,0:17:43.497
The pillar light inside of me[br]was still alight

0:17:43.497,0:17:46.861
just as it is in each and every one of us.

0:17:48.417,0:17:51.136
I know that I am not my body,

0:17:51.568,0:17:54.312
and I also know that you are not yours.

0:17:54.905,0:18:00.578
And then it no longer matters[br]what you look like, where you come from,

0:18:00.836,0:18:03.360
or what you do for a living.

0:18:03.360,0:18:06.515
All that matters is that we continue

0:18:06.515,0:18:10.512
to fan the flame of humanity[br]by living our lives

0:18:10.512,0:18:15.849
as the ultimate creative expression[br]of who we really are.

0:18:16.644,0:18:22.738
Because we are all connected[br]by millions and millions of straws.

0:18:24.016,0:18:27.989
And it's time to join those up,[br]and to hang on,

0:18:28.813,0:18:32.989
and if we are to move towards[br]our collective bliss,

0:18:32.989,0:18:36.144
it's time we shed our focus[br]on the physical,

0:18:36.144,0:18:39.399
and instead embrace[br]the virtues of the heart.

0:18:39.399,0:18:42.422
So raise your straws if you'll join me!

0:18:42.714,0:18:44.522
(Applause) Thank you!

0:18:44.529,0:18:49.206
(Applause)

0:18:50.081,0:18:51.727
Thank you.

0:18:53.259,0:18:55.905
(Applause)