In the last couple of days there has been a flurry of newsworthy happenings across the world. Another professional jock has been charged with murder, Roger Federer lost and gay people in the U.S. are celebrating.
But amidst the entire buzz, there is one sad fact that has many on the verge of tears, based on reports out of Pretoria,former South African president Nelson Mandela is on life support.
There has been only a limited few modern day leaders who've made great sacrifices in the name of their country and beliefs. After spending years in prison opposing South Africa's then system of apartheid, like the final scene of a Hollywood blockbuster movie Mandela took office and revitalized his nation. I'm an eighties baby and this is what I remembered, watching the news with my parents and seeing his rise.
I have scrutinized the pages of his life and used his concepts of life and love as best I possibly can and incorporated it into my own life. He is an inspiration to me, an entire nation, continent and generation. We saw his decline each year since the late 2000's and we all knew it was inevitable but just like great leaders of the past we weep for their sorrow.And I now weep, he is a man of great character and no I haven't met him personally but just as how I wished I could have met Einstein, Castro, Marx and Garvey the same applies to Mandela. More so than those I mentioned because I was able to see some of his struggles and victory. To me he represented strength through humility but never allowed it to be mistaken for weakness or fear, a skill or trait that is difficult to attain. An advocate of peace, Mandela always sought nonviolent ways to settle conflicts but he was not push over. There were times when there was no other option for Mandela than to use force to usher in change in a period when the South African government had tunnel vision.
"There is no passion to be found playing small - in settling for a life that is less than the one you are capable of living," these were just a few of his words that highlighted his thoughts on fight .
On Sunday, June 23 the South African government said Mandela took a turn for the worst and it was then that I felt sadness take over my heart. In years gone past whenever the discussion of funeral arrangements for the former present came up in the South African media, there would be outrage by the public, sighting such discussion as taboo. But on Monday that wasn't the case as news of his deteriorating condition was met with an indulgent calm.
So as a nation waits to say farewell to its most celebrated leader, I wish his ideals and accomplishments live on in the hearts of many and is used as an inspiration for change. Change that can bring about a new outlook of the world and people, not letting conviction alter ones state of mind. His gruesome years on Robben Island didn't seem to affect his delivery to the media on Feb. 11, 1990. The eloquence and calm he displayed showed the character of a man, who after 27 years of imprisonment was still engaged and involved in his country's development.
It is said that when Mandela was released from prison he asked to be buried on a hillside overlooking the home he built in his childhood village of Qunu along with three of his six children who already passed.
His first daughter died in infancy, while his eldest son Themebekile died at age 25 in a car accident 2010. And his second son Makgatho died of an Aids-related illness in his fifties.
At 94, Nelson Mandela lived a great life and as the world monitors his condition lets pray that his transition will be a smooth and seamless one. His inspirational words will live on forever, some of which I will leave with you.
1) "I learned that courage was not the absence of fear, but the triumph over it. The brave man is not he who does not feel afraid, but he who conquers that fear."
2) "A good head and a good heart are always a formidable combination."
3) "It always seems impossible until it's done."
