HAPPY BIRTHDAY MADIBA

The greatest glory in living lies not in never falling, but in rising every time we fall – Nelson Mandela

Yip the man is turning 90 today

I have so much to say and yet so few words to put my thoughts and feelings across about this giant of a man that has impacted so many’s lives. For me personally it is what he did after the struggle was over that blows me away. It is his words of forgiveness and acceptance that I hold dear to my heart. He speaks a brutal honesty, a true wise soul that surely can not be called old at the young age of 90!

This man has seen the oppression, he has felt the hate of thousands, he fought hard for freedom, he lived within four walls for decades, he is a man who is human. Above all else and no matter what has gone before, the hardships he was dealt by certain groups he holds forgiveness in his heart and tries to spread its lessons.

He doesn’t see the colour of your skin as determining who you are or who you are going to be, he looks for the soul and goes from there. Think we can all learn a lesson in that.

To me he is a man of inspiration beyond words

Archbishop Desmond Tutu asked International One to write a single as a gift to Nelson Mandela for his 90th birthday. The song, Inyaniso, means “the truth” and is available via itunes, all proceeds from the sale are being given to Nelson Mandela’s charity 46664 to complete the present.

What International One says about this dedication:

The song was written taking some of the language of Mandela and the more modern words that come from the artist existing in a younger generation. This is the story of one man reaching many. The power that one individual mustered (in voice) and was able to change the world by reaching everyday people with words they understood, messages they took to heart and a story they came to believe in.

The title of the song itself; Inyaniso means “the truth”. The truth is often hard to hear and more often than not it’s hard to find a stage for it when it means/demands change from those to encounter it. But when it is heard and when it is allowed to resonate with people we find its voice and the resulting share of Voices it captures and effects to be powerful and therein it evolve into a tool for change. Change that allows people to move and speak freely and to celebrate in this freedom, “the truth.”

Madiba Quotes

“For to be free is not merely to cast off one’s chains, but to live in a way that respects and enhances the freedom of others.

No one is born hating another person because of the colour of his skin, or his background, or his religion. People must learn to hate, and if they can learn to hate, they can be taught to love, for love comes more naturally to the human heart than its opposite. – Long Walk to Freedom

I greet you all in the name of peace, democracy and freedom for all! I stand here before you not as a prophet but as a humble servant of you, the people. Your tireless and heroic sacrifices have made it possible for me to be here today. I therefore place the remaining years of my life in your hands.

True reconciliation does not consist in merely forgetting the past but learning from it as well.

Education is the most powerful weapon which you can use to change the world.

As we are liberated from our own fear, our presence automatically liberates others.

For to be free is not merely to cast off one’s chains, but to live in a way that respects and enhances the freedom of others.

And as we let our own light shine, we unconsciously give other people permission to do the same.

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.

If there are dreams about a beautiful South Africa, there are also roads that lead to their goal. Two of these roads could be named Goodness and Forgiveness.

If you talk to a man in a language he understands, that goes to his head. If you talk to him in his language, that goes to his heart.

The greatest glory in living lies not in never falling, but in rising every time we fall.

There can be no keener revelation of a society’s soul than the way in which it treats its children.

There is no easy walk to freedom anywhere, and many of us will have to pass through the valley of the shadow of death again and again before we reach the mountaintop of our desires.

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.

There is nothing like returning to a place that remains unchanged to find the ways in which you yourself have altered.

We must use time wisely and forever realize that the time is always ripe to do right.

… and sadly one that some have forgotten in light of our xenophobia…

Never, never and never again shall it be that this beautiful land will again experience the oppression of one by another.

Happy Birthday Madiba and thank you for the role you played in trying to make our country all that it could be, for your role in my life and in the world. Thank you.

Vishesh a big Congrats on the BIG 7-0 Hope you have the most incrediblist of days and get absolutely spoilt rotten!!! Stop pulling the grays out ok! This ones for you hun