“fill (someone) with
the urge or ability to do or feel something, especially to do something creative”
I think that the death of Nelson Mandela is one of the first
that has genuinely saddened me. One of those - “You know where you were when….”
- moments I will actually remember.
Of course, I’m not alone in this. And it was always going to
be a big moment for the world as this event unfolded. Because the end of
apartheid is one of those world-changing moments that is referred to as something
to inspire and encourage.
To inspire. To “fill with the urge or ability to do or feel
something.”
This is more than simple encouragement – to be inspiring is
to change a mind-set from impossible to possible. From cannot be done to
successfully completed. And of course, to be deserving of this accolade, something
triumphant will have occurred.
Being only 23, I guess I don’t understand the full extent of
the triumph. I missed the years when fighting and inequality in South Africa
seemed like they were never going to end. But what I do know is that something
transforming happened and that one individual broke through to inspire
generations to persist.
Another definition of inspire is this: “breathe in (air); inhale”
Of course something truly inspirational is as energising to
us as oxygen. It gives us the ability to keep going. And so, as eyes fix on one
inspirational individual, we’re encouraged to continue.
Apartheid
ended but injustice continues.Inequality is rife; climate
change is spoiling our planet; the gap
between rich and poor grows larger and larger; tax dodging leaves countries struggling; corruption means that those truly in need don’t get anything; human trafficking is a growing industry.
“When people are determined they can overcome
anything.” - Nelson Mandela.
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