Farewell To A Great Man: NELSON MANDELA

I wasn’t born when Nelson Mandela was sentenced to life imprisonment in 1964. I got to know a lot about this great man via news reports, photographs of him in the newspapers, songs demanding for his release, documentaries and Social Studies classes at school. It was Dad who answered my earlier questions: “Who is Mandela?” “Why is he in prison?” “What is the meaning of apartheid?”

 I clearly remember that night in February 11, 1990;  when my father excitedly calling Mum from the kitchen and we all saw him on T.V, a suited grey-haired gentleman triumphantly holding his fist in the air as he finally walked out to freedom after 27 years in prison. The whole world not only celebrated his long awaited release but the end of the immoral regime of apartheid; where black South Africans were treated as third class citizens in their own country. A documentary followed by the musical SARAFINA! told me a lot of things about that terrible time (including the massacre of protesting workers and students); years later I learnt even more after reading Alan Paton’s CRY; THE BELOVED COUNTRY and Athol Fugard’s SIZWE BANZI IS DEAD. The latter in particular made me cringe; black Africans having to carry identity books and work-seekers’ permits, the racial inequality and other things they had to put up with at the time e.g. “Whites Only” signs really sickened me, that and the fact that apartheid in South Africa was actually legal.

This is what Nelson “Madiba” Mandela fought against and in the end, his (and his supporters in South Africa and other countries) paid off big time; independence, end of apartheid, freedom and in 1994, he became the first democratically elected black president of South Africa. What I liked best about him was his efforts in bringing about racial reconciliation in South Africa after that; wanting both the blacks and Afrikaans to get along from then on and let go of the past- not an easy thing of course, especially if one looks at how long apartheid reigned in that country; from 1948 to 1990. His commitment to World Peace and willingness to forgive the people who had put him in prison in the first place really moved me. He said, “As I walked out the door toward the gate of freedom, I knew if I didn’t leave my bitterness and hatred behind, I’d still be in prison.”

When he was sentenced, Mandela was 45; when he was released, he was 72,  over two decades in incarceration. Yet, his defiant spirit remained unbroken all those long years and he was a symbol of hope to those who abhorred racism and apartheid and motivated them to continue fighting. While in prison, he recited William Ernest Henley’s poem- INVICTUS ("Unconquered" in Latin) - to other prisoners, influenced by the poem’s message: 

  INVICTUS

“Out of the night that covers me,

Black as the pit from pole to pole,

I thank whatever gods may be

For my unconquered soul.

In the fell clutch of circumstance,

I have not winced nor cried aloud.

Under the bludgeoning of chance

My head is bloody, but unbowed.

Beyond this place of wrath and tears

Looms but the horror of the shade,

And yet the menace of the years

Finds and shall find me unafraid.

It matters not how strait the gate,

How charged with punishments the scrolls,

Iam the master of my fate:

Iam the captain of my soul.”

The world is now in mourning of a great man but we must not be sad, even though naturally we all are right now. Like Gandhi before him, Madiba cared about his people and fought for the end of tyranny and inequality. He did and achieved a lot of things; including influencing thousands. Now he has gone to rest. As we say goodbye to Nelson Mandela; we pray to Almighty God to grant his soul eternal rest, to give his family and South Africa the fortitude to bear this loss. And the rest of the world, particularly world leaders to remember what Madiba fought and stood for and do their best to emulate him. REST IN PEACE MADIBA. 

"I am not a saint, unless you think of a saint as a sinner who keeps on trying"- Nelson Mandela

"Resentment is like drinking poison and then hoping it will kill your enemies." ~ Nelson Mandela: http://t.co/Kuu63FHZsM
— USA TODAY (@USATODAY) December 5, 2013

President Obama remembers Nelson Mandela: "A man who took history in his hands and bent the arc of the moral universe towards justice."
— Barack Obama (@BarackObama) December 5, 2013

I was not a messiah but an ordinary man who had become a leader because of extraordinary circumstances-Nelson Mandela http://t.co/1XS5juxab6
— NAACP (@NAACP) December 5, 2013

Carbo Fan Fiction- Return Journey Chapter 27

 Chapter 27

The song selected for the newlyweds’ first dance as man and wife was Ella Fitzgerald’s At Last. Darcy Jonas felt it was more than fitting as she watched her parents on the dance floor; her handsome papa’s eyes on his wife, his arm round her waist. She smiled at the matching look of love on her mother’s face. If there was a couple who deserved a life time together, it was those two.

Carbo Fan Fiction- Return Journey Chapter 26

 

Chapter 26

Vivian had neglected to tell Hope about the botched task so she was unable to hide her shock on seeing Bo waiting for her.

Bo stared at her hard. After the drugging/almost burning him alive episode, not to mention her outburst in court; he wasn’t surprised she’d tried to kill him again. But to actually conspire with Vivian- that was the real bombshell.

BEING STRESS FREE: POSSIBLE?

*First, my sincere and heartfelt apologises to my visitors for the long gap between updates. I am currently unemployed hence unable to afford regular internet, so please bear with me*

"STRESS IS AN IGNORANT STATE. IT BELIEVES THAT EVERYTHING IS AN EMERGENCY. NOTHING IS THAT IMPORTANT" - Natalie Goldberg


No matter how we keep believing that, there is no way we can escape getting stressed out on several occasions. I should know; worry and anxiety over my writing, finding work, battling with my part time studies and lords knows what ends up with me feeling ill- pains on the back of my neck, stomach aches, a few panic attacks and don't get me started on the hideous migraines. I'm too lazy to learn yoga so these days I rely on herbal tea to ease the stress. It's a lot better than two years back- I was so stressed and depressed that, to my horror- I lost half of my hair. I didn't even know until I went to get my hair washed and my hair dresser was like, 'Amina, have you been thinking too much?' 
There is always something to worry about, sorry to say. We humans just can't help it- especially in the workplace. One puts in their best at the job then it comes the time when they are given a lot to do (more than they can handle but too proud to say so), when they are told they are not doing enough hence do too much or the meaner bosses who make them feel after everything, there's still something lacking! The brain gets the biggest hit, one would feel rather disoriented and unable to function properly for a while and it leads to fatigue and early aging.
There are other reasons outside the workplace; personal problems, worry about money, worry about security, pressure from family members- the list is endless as anything or anyone could be a stressor.
Of course there are ways of treating it, proper ways of course like lying down and listening to slow music, yoga (which is pretty much non existent here in Nigeria), exercise, taking up a relaxing hobby.  I do all I can to reduce any form of anxiety but afterwards it's back to square one.
Just how can one be absolutely free from Stress? Is it even possible to be free of it?

Carbo Fan Fiction- Return Journey Chapter 25

 

Chapter 25

Victor knew he deserved Bo, Roman and Shane’s contempt but all the same he was very angry Bo would think he conspired to kill him. After bonding with Bo after Shawn Brady’s death, Victor believed his son had finally decided to let the elevator incident and other past crimes go and establish a proper relationship with him. 

Carbo Fan Fiction- Return Journey Chapter 24

Chapter 24

Dr. Marcus Hunter was tired from his journey but he briskly looked through Carly and Darcy’s charts after looking in on them; his heart clenching at how ill his old friend and former colleague looked.

CARBO FAN FICTION: Return Journey Chapter 23

First of all, very sorry for the delay in posting new blog posts. Currently I am unemployed so I cannot afford regular internet service like I used to; I go to internet cafes when I can so please bear with me, thanks.

Chapter 23

Bo didn’t sleep that night at all; the bed was empty without Carly beside him and the house painfully lonely without the children. He wouldn’t be at home at all but Roman, John, Marlena and the others who came to visit Carly and Darcy had urged him to get some rest; he’d been with the two women all day.