6

“It always seems impossible until it’s done.”

Outside of my parents the person I admired most was NELSON ROLIHLAHLA MANDELA and my heart leapt when I learned of his passing. There are so few exceedingly great people of every century, persons for whom we all know and are blessed to share the planet with and Mr. Mandela was one of them for me and for indeed the world.

I’ve been trying to think of ways to express how I feel about Madiba, so I just started writing. I ended up making a very simple list of what I’ve learned from his life, his leadership and his humanity:

If you want to understand courage
If you want to understand what it means to have faith
If you want to understand why self-pity is a waste of time
If you’re tired and feel like you can’t go on
If you feel like the world’s out to get you
If you’re full of yourself
If you’re selfish
If you feel put upon or set aside
If you’re sick and tired of being sick and tired
If you’re struggling and don’t know how to stand
If you’re unwilling to give back
If you want to believe in something greater than yourself
If you want to trust your hopes and dreams
If you believe knowledge is power
If you believe in justice for all
If you believe that love conquers all
If you believe tomorrow’s a new day
If you want to understand truth
If you want to understand real sacrifice
If you want to learn humility
If you want to learn how to smile in the face of nastiness
If you want to learn how to harness evil for good
If you want to inspire a generation

Then educate yourself about this great man. Read his books. Read his speeches. Digest them. Analyze them. Imitate them. And then, only then, try to convince me that we don’t have the God-given ability to make a difference in the world. What I know for sure is, you will straighten your back, smile a bit wider and walk with confidence because NELSON MANDELA was just that special of a man and he lived, sacrificed and died so that we could realize the manifestation of his legacy.

“Every man wants to believe in himself. Every man wants to be fearless. We only become heroes when we stand up for what we believe in.”

“To walk down a path where great men have been is an honor itself, for a few privileged men. But to blaze one’s own trail unequaled to thee is a tribute to greatness that few men shall see.”

“There is no easy walk to freedom and many of us will have to pass through the valley of the shadow of death again and again before we reach the mountain tops of our desires.”

Life is but a twinkling of an eye, filled with sorrow and compassion.
All things that happen will age too old, yet always stay gold.

NELSON ROLIHLAHLA MANDELA
July 18, 1918 — December 5, 2013