“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.” Nelson Mandela.

Nelson Rolihlahla Mandela  was a South African anti-apartheid activist who served as the first president of South Africa from 1994 to 1999. He was the country’s first black head of state and the first elected in a fully representative democratic election. His government focused on dismantling the legacy of apartheid by fostering racial reconciliation.

Ideologically an African nationalist and socialist, he served as the president of the African National Congress (ANC) party from 1991 to 1997. He died on this day in 2013 and therefore I thought it fitting for him to be the subject of this week’s blog.

Mandela served 27 years in prison, split between Robben Island, Pollsmoor Prison and Victor Verster Prison. Amid growing domestic and international pressure and fears of racial civil war, President F. W. de Klerk released him in 1990. Mandela and de Klerk led efforts to negotiate an end to apartheid, which resulted in the 1994 multiracial general election in which Mandela led the ANC to victory and became president.

Leading a broad coalition government which proclaimed a new constitution, Mandela emphasised reconciliation between the country’s racial groups and created the Truth and Reconciliation Commission to investigate past human rights abuses.

Mandela was widely considered a charismatic leader, described by biographer Mary Benson as “a born mass leader who could not help magnetizing people.” Many people were inspired by Mandela’s efforts to promote reconciliation and his ability to forgive. It seems to me that these are qualities that the world could utilise a great deal at present.

When Nelson Mandela became South African President in 1994, he used the following quotation by Marianne Williamson from her book A Return to Love:

Our Deepest Fear

“Our deepest fear is not that we are inadequate. Our deepest fear is that we are powerful beyond measure. It is our light, not our darkness that most frightens us. We ask ourselves, who am I to be brilliant, gorgeous, talented, fabulous? Actually, who are you not to be? You are a child of God.

Your playing small does not serve the world. There is nothing enlightened about shrinking so that other people won’t feel insecure around you. We are all meant to shine, as children do. We were born to make manifest the glory of God that is within us. It’s not just in some of us; it’s in everyone. And as we let our own light shine, we unconsciously give other people permission to do the same. As we are liberated from our own fear, our presence automatically liberates others.”

Hopefully this quotation will help you if you feel fearful in the future and serve as a reminder of the enormous potential that lies within you. It might be that it encourages you to conquer the fear and not let it win.

This week, why not pause for a few moments to reflect and consider what you would do if you were brave and didn’t let fear win.

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