I cried because I had no shoes until I met a man with no feet — Helen Keller

Born in Tabola, Tanzania, Hamissi Lugonda has shown remarkable abilities despite being born without arms.

Congenital Amputation (Amelia) — the rare birth defect of being born with underdeveloped or missing limbs affects about 0.4–2.4 per 100,000 births, according to the CDC.

The video below depicts Lugonda carrying out everyday tasks such as eating, drinking, changing his shirt, making phone calls, and quite impressively tending to his farm with a hoe.

Using his mouth, shoulders and feet, he can handle and manipulate small objects such as spoons and chalk with incredible dexterity.

Watch the video below to fully appreciate the strength and the drive of the human spirit displayed by this man:

Lugonda is not the first man to have been discovered on social media going through life seemingly quite unhampered and uninhibited.

There are other notable examples with similar conditions. Various talent shows have showcased performers playing pianos with their feet or performing acrobatics among other tasks many would take for granted.

Nick Vujicic, an Australian-America born without arms and legs, has become a world-renowned motivational speaker.

Vujicic, as the founder of his non-profit ministry, Life Without Limbs, has been featured on numerous shows around the world as well as his own YouTube channel.

After watching Lugonda or Vujicic’s videos, it’s cliched to question one’s own limiting self-beliefs. If these guys and gals without limbs can live full lives quite able to accomplish tasks that would require hands and fingers, how dare we “fully-limbed” folks complain about our failures born out of procrastination, laziness or lack of motivation?

Without any physical limitations, we should be able to use 100% of our physical abilities and get over our own lack of self-belief, fear of success, or whatever mental demons we’ve created to prevent us reaching our full potential.

As a writer on Medium, I’ve had my share of days where I’m unmotivated and uninspired to dust off an aging draft. On these days, my two arms and hands complete with ten fingers are simply unable to use whatever minimal energy it takes to tap keys on a keyboard.

Maybe if my life and my lifestyle solely depended on me writing and completing articles, I would be able to snap out of Hibernate mode and get to writing and publishing more.

What if there were a looming deadline that on some day in the future, my fingers would become unusable? Would that inspire me to act now? I shouldn’t have to resort to these kinds of mental gymnastics to get myself to seize the day.

Hamissi Lugonda didn’t have to trick himself to learn how to use his shoulders and jaw to act as surrogate opposable thumbs and fingers. He just knew he had to. He didn’t have a choice.

As a software developer by profession, I’ve had fleeting thoughts about what my life would be if I were to lose my fingers. Or my eyesight.

My livelihood has been based on my ability to tap letters and numbers on a keyboard. If I lost my fingers or my vision, would I force myself to continue my profession adapting to using other tools?

Saqib Shaikh, a blind programmer, is able to code even 

. What Shaikh is able to do is equally impressive, albeit less physically demanding as Lugonda’s achievements.

Seeing Lugonda navigate his environment with his carefree demeanor, certainly doesn’t mean he hasn’t had his share of struggles and challenges he’s had to overcome. What does come through in watching his video is how his perseverance and determination has allowed him to live his life on his terms.

Once he accepted the hand life dealt him, he didn’t wallow in self-pity. Instead, he took charge of his life. He embraced the challenges. He made use of every ounce of his ability.

The Lugondas, Shaikhs and Vujicics of the world continue to show the rest of the world that the human spirit is mighty and formidable. The ability to unlock that strength is within us.

We just have to will ourselves to achievement. The world is in our grasp, arms or no arms.