Invictus, Nelson Mandela, and those that came after Mandela.

A few words and phrases jump out of that poem and leave an indelible memory in my inner self....unconquerable soul...My head is bloody, but unbowed....and that most riveting of all phrases "I AM THE MASTER OF MY FATE, I AM THE CAPTAIN OF MU SOUL"...surely anyone who reads "INVICTUS" will not fail to be inspired?

And always, it reminds me of Mandela. Not because he had endured 27 years in prison for opposing apartheid ..... but because he emerged a better man and refused to give up his efforts to achieve equality for all people....and most amazing of all...his ability to forgive those that had caused him the most pain - physical and mental - and to go on living his life in the service of others. We shall never see the likes of him again.....and I am indeed blessed to have been of his time on this earth.

And I shall always hold all leaders, especially ours in this wretched land of ours, to the manner in which Mandela has lived his life......always true to his creed!

“During my lifetime I have dedicated myself to this struggle of the African people. I have fought against white domination, and I have fought against black domination. I have cherished the ideal of a democratic and free society in which all persons live together in harmony and with equal opportunities. It is an ideal which I hope to live for and to achieve. But if needs be, it is an ideal for which I am prepared to die.”