Mandela's Way: Lessons On Life

I must admit that I only had a general knowledge about Mandela, so that his book has broaden my mind about this historic figure and his impressive struggle. If I had to describe him, I'd say that Mandela is a natural leader. One of those gifted humans that seldom come up to give light to all mankind. In a few words: leadership, commitment, human values, endurance, and humility, could be appropriate to describe him.

He is man made by himself, and all the hard circumstances and extreme situations he had had to face. He had to do a lot of sacrifices, and in most cases the man had to give way to the leader. But his core principles, commitment with justice and equality, and empathy, allow him to endure 28 years of imprisonment and, instead of fall down, he became stronger and wiser.

This is what I take from him in terms of my own life. Besides, I have relished the fifteen lessons on life, which are related in a very entertaining and appealing way. I strongly agree with most of them, and I believe that are pearls of wisdom.

I share Mandela's ideas and thoughts about how we must face life. Our society wrongly makes us believe that a courageous, brave man must not have fear, but Mandela teaches us that fear is a natural, and even desirable feeling in some circumstances. The point is learning to overcome it.

Another important point is that, even in the most extreme situations, it’s no use of having an outburst or an impassioned response. If you lose control, them you lose the situation. So, Let´s be calm, as Mandela would say.

I haven't been called to be a Leader, but even in our ordinary life, we need to take risks. Passivity and resignation is not the way. Of course, it is not about being reckless, but cautious.

I firmly support the idea that it's necessary to have some core principles. Of course, a good ones. Although we will be sometimes in deep trouble, this principles always would lead us to a satisfactory end.

It's worth to take the ubuntu approach, which expresses the idea that people are empowered by other people, that we become our best selves through unselfish interaction with others. This is just the opposite of our occidental model, characterized by extreme individualism and competitiveness.

In the same way, we are taught to choose only between two options: yes or no, black or white. It’s the deliberate vision we are indoctrinated to avoid thinking of alternatives to the mainstream. But Mandela’s African background allows him to escape of this unique thinking. He would say that it’s never as simple as yes or no; that there are no simple answers to most difficult questions. Logically, he thinks that every problem has many causes, not just one. In the way he sees the world, there is no one interpretation. Both may be correct.

Going on with his lessons on life, we can see that Mandela is a man of sincerity, not a man of maybes. So, as I think, there is no space to hypocrisy or false words. You must know that the price of not saying no now makes it even harder to say it later. There are some decisions that may benefit from delay. But if you are delaying or avoiding saying no because it is unpleasant, better do it right away and clearly. You will avoid a heap of trouble in the log run.

Love makes the difference. I couldn't agree more with this. There has been little room for love in the life of a revolutionary and a prisoner, but Mandela never gave up on love. And love helped him to resist, although it was often a source of pain rather than solace. He could be defined as a pragmatic romantic. To him, loves is the most important thing. Without love a man can not have a complete life.

In conclusion, we can take a very wise lessons from this book, which can make our life better. The point is if we are brave enough to apply them. I'll do my best!.