Most of us echo that sentiment when anyone dies but more so when loved ones and global icons like Nelson Mandela pass on. I truly hope he’s in a better place enjoying “Life After Death” although I really wish he had lived longer. As the World marked what would have been his 100th Birthday, I again wondered why we have to die. I wish there was a way at least “good” people lived forever. I don’t care what Mandela did prior to being incarcerated for close to three decades. Think about that. He lost 27 years of his life and then did the unthinkable when he chose to forgive those who had wronged him. I didn’t need any more proof that this man’s heart was pure. There’re not many people like that in this World and if it were up to me, they would live for eternity because they’d have earned it. It’s said that everything happens for a reason but you can’t help but wonder why certain historical injustices like Slavery and Apartheid happened and continue to happen. We don’t choose our heritage and so for someone to have to make such huge sacrifices along with others who paid with their lives fighting for equal rights to education, healthcare, employment and such is just unfair. I wonder what Mandela’s legacy would have been bar those lost years. We’ve learnt a lot from the man but I don’t think many of us would have been as conciliatory. I for one hold grudges for the smallest of grievances and I won’t even lie and say I wouldn’t have sought revenge against anyone who’d had a hand in locking me up for that long. To be denied basic freedoms like a chance to enjoy your marriage, watch your children grow and just the sheer deprivation of being behind bars for almost 30 years! The man contracted Tuberculosis while in Prison! I would’ve been bitter. Some wrongs will never be righted but even more disheartening is that we refuse to learn from the past, and I feel like once the exceptional figures we extol pass on, we ditch the values they gave up so much for. We’re so flawed as humans and tend to forget too quickly at times. There are people who were lucky enough to live and work with Nelson Mandela who’re nothing like him today. Had he still been alive, maybe they wouldn’t have the nerve to “misbehave”. It’s like knowing your mother is watching and so stopping yourself from doing certain things but the second she leaves, all hell breaks loose. We have to strive to do and be better though. Some things are just wrong regardless of who’s watching or not. I wish Madiba’s exemplary life had been enough to fix not just South Africa’s many problems but the entire World’s. No doubt there are some out there emulating his values especially around this time of year but clearly, there are not enough of them or this World wouldn’t be half the mess it is!
