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Often when I'm out in public,

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a child will stare at me.

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And if the child is particularly brave,
they'll approach me and ask,

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"Are you a pirate?"

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(Laughter)

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To which I then need to respond,

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once again,

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"Yes."

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(Laughter)

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I mean, let's be honest:

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I've got two hooks, prosthetic legs,
and a penchant for hard liquor.

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(Laughter)

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All I need is an eye-patch and a parrot,
and I'm basically there.

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(Laughter)

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But I like being a pirate.

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I find many advantages
to having a disability,

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and I'm not just talking about
the money I save on gloves ...

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(Laughter)

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or the fantastically legitimate excuse
for never having to master chopsticks.

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(Laughter)

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I'm talking about real advantages
I feel I've gained,

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having gone through physical adversity.

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When I was 19, I contracted a disease

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that resulted in the loss
of both my arms at the elbows,

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both my legs below the knee,

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and left enough scars on my face
to elicit jealousy in Freddy Krueger.

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(Laughter)

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Now, I made never be able
to communicate in sign language,

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but my increased resilience
and general ability to problem-solve

30
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has been heightened
by being forced to think laterally

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to overcome problems
that most people aren't faced with.

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One of the first lessons that I learned

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immediately followed
the painful and arduous task

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of learning how to walk again,

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but it went on to pay dividends
for the rest of my life.

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It happened when I attempted
to step up a curb.

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Now as rudimentary as this action
sounds to most of you,

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stepping up a curb
is somewhat of a challenge

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for those of us without ankle movement.

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So I tried stepping up the curb

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the way I'd always known how, front on,

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for days on end,

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with no success,

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until it became obvious
that the time and effort

45
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I was investing into this endeavor
was clearly disproportionate

46
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to the benefit of its outcome.

47
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(Laughter)

48
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So, I decided to inspect the problem
from a different angle.

49
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If I couldn't use an ankle joint

50
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to achieve the range of motion
that I required to mount the curb,

51
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I would have to use a different joint,

52
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like my hip.

53
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So I turned my body
perpendicular to the curb

54
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and placed my foot up sideways,

55
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and I was able to step up immediately.

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Within five minutes,

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no staircase was safe from my advances.

58
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(Laughter)

59
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That very day, I climbed
a staircase of three flights,

60
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which I was quite impressed with as well,

61
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except I realized that I didn't know
how to get back down again.

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(Laughter)

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That was a long weekend.

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(Laughter)

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Now, in my past life
as an able-bodied person,

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I'd been a guitarist.

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I was alright as a player,

68
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but I'd never really taken it further.

69
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I'd never really started a band
or played live all that much.

70
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Nonetheless, music
was a great passion of mine,

71
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and when I lost my arms,

72
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the idea that it may no longer
be a part of my life

73
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critically challenged
my will to keep living.

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However, the thought that emerged

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immediately after being
discharged from hospital

76
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was "If Ray Charles can play the piano
while blind as a bat,

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let's get to work on a solution
for this guitar problem."

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So, consulting with an engineer,

79
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I designed a slide system
that would hook into my left hook

80
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and I devised another pick-holder system
that would clip into my right hook.

81
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Now, if this worked,

82
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I would be able to play the guitar
open tuned on my lap, like a slide.

83
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So after weeks of testing and alterations,

84
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I finally had the accessories back
to play the guitar again,

85
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and I was right back where I was
before losing my hands --

86
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being issued with noise complaints
from my neighbors, obviously.

87
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(Laughter)

88
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But this time, I took it further.

89
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I started a band with my friends.

90
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We wrote songs and recorded them.

91
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We even played gigs to real people.

92
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Not as many as this.

93
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(Laughter)

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But even though it was a just a tiny step,

95
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it was a giant leap from what I'd achieved
when I was all in one piece.

96
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Now while relearning every action
that one has ever cultivated

97
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might seem like
a significant undertaking --

98
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and believe me, it very much was,
in the short term --

99
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it was nonetheless
having a positive effect

100
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on the way that I approached
everything else in my life.

101
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Not only did it transform
my ability to problem-solve,

102
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but I also felt I became more pragmatic,

103
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less sensitive to hindrances,

104
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in some cases, more patient,

105
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and magically transformed
people's abilities

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to offer me their seats
on public transport.

107
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(Laughter)

108
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Trivial setbacks began
to pale in comparison

109
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to challenges I'd previously overcome,

110
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and this allowed me to take a calm
and measured approach to these challenges,

111
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keeping them in perspective

112
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and often even finding new
and improved ways to overcome them.

113
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The benefit of not dwelling
on the negative

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and just getting on with the task at hand

115
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became self-evident.

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It even encouraged me to pursue
some more fulfilling career paths

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that may otherwise have been inadvisable.

118
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And who would have thought
that an appropriate job for me

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might involve the meticulous operation
of electronic equipment

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to curate dance music to people
in inaccessible places

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under the influence of alcohol.

122
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(Laughter)

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Not I.

124
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So in a competitive industry where DJs
have been relentlessly honing their craft,

125
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desperate to attain gigs,
sending demos to clubs,

126
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my best friend and I
took a different approach,

127
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and we started our own club night,

128
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and we employed ourselves as the DJs.

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(Laughter)

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Suddenly, we had a headline slot.

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(Laughter)

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Now, when we started
that club night, I could not DJ.

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The first time I ever got behind the decks
was on our opening night,

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in front of hundreds of people.

135
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I'd only just learned
where the play button was.

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(Laughter)

137
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But, being previously faced
with so many ultimatums,

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one's forced to be astute
in adapting to new situations.

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That club night went on to become

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the longest-running
weekly club night in Sydney,

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and we as DJs went on to play
Australia's biggest music festivals.

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So eventually, I either learned quickly,

143
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or the standards of clubs
have gone really downhill.

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(Laughter)

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Coming close to death
can be an educational experience.

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It's certainly true that one's priorities
receive somewhat of a realignment

147
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immediately afterwards,

148
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and it's also true
that some of those priorities

149
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are met with an increased
sense of urgency.

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But another, more salient realization
that comes to light

151
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is the triviality of our own
self-importance and self-consciousness.

152
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To truly understand the extent
to which your self-consciousness

153
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prohibits you from engaging
in opportunities

154
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should lead everyone to take risks
they otherwise wouldn't.

155
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We're merely a blip on the time line
of the universe, right?

156
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Act accordingly.

157
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Now the ideas that I'm presenting today
were imbued upon me

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through some otherwise
unfortunate circumstances, granted,

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but they're lying dormant in the lives
of anyone who's willing to exploit them.

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If we all understand
that we all have unique weaknesses,

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and if we're honest about what they are,

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we can learn how to best
take advantage of them,

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whether they be mounting a curb
or fear of presenting sales reports,

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or the inability to sufficiently
manage one's finances --

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looking at that guy --

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(Laughter)

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there lies the ability to learn, to adapt,

168
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and even the ability to rewire
one's instinctual response to challenges.

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Adversity is good,

170
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and it has the potential
to make you stronger,

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and, at the very least,

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you can scare the hell out of kids
if you look like a pirate.

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Thanks.

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(Applause and cheers)