Mandela's Long Walk To Freedom
by Shintya Kurniawan on Monday, February 23, 2009 at 6:09pm

I finally finished that book a few weeks ago and found some harsh truths about FREEDOM...

A true freedom fighter will never be able to feel 100% liberated for he will lose the meaning of "Fighter" if there's nothing left to fight for.

A true freedom fighter is destined to be nobody's man for he has to be everyone's man. It means he has to be brave enough to lose his quality time with his family as a sacrifice and service to people.

Freedom is a luxury in the past that we often take for granted nowadays.

Freedom can also be a luxury today because there are many of us who can not enjoy it completely.

Let start with financial freedom, then free yourself from the unhappy moments in the past, free yourself from fearing the future, free to do what you want when you want it, free to go wherever you want, free to feel happy and not worrying about whom you'll end up with or worrying whether there's one to be with or not, free from failure, free from unwanted affection, free your mind from negative thinking. Just free. F-R-E-E -D-O-M is a 7 letters word that is easy to spell but so hard to achieve. Without it, how can we live life to its fullest? But sometimes it's good to feel insecure, it's good to feel afraid of something, it reminds us that we are just imperfect men and women, and we still need help from above.

Being free doesn't mean having some super power, it's only a state of mind in knowing that you have the privilege to do something, to be treated respectfully in equality, but it is not a permission to think that you are superior or better than anyone. Once you know it, you will think twice before you try to hurt someone else.

Some of us wonder why bad things happened even though we've been nice to others. Some just never know the uncountable blessings they have until it's gone. Maybe, that's because we rarely take just a few minutes off to realise the struggle our ancestors went through and the people they lost in the battle to achieve freedom. In a world where reaching someone is just as easy as 1, 2, 3 and everything can be done with just one phone call, who would bother thinking about the past?

In moments of trial, people are stronger and united. In a state of freedom, we have two options: be better or be ignorant. You are free to chose and no one will judge you because it's a free world, isn't it?

Some quotes from the inspiring book..

"Courage was not the absence of fear, but the triumphs over it."

"The brave man is not he who does not feel afraid, but he who conquers that fear."

"Deep down in every human heart, there was mercy & generosity. Man's goodness a flame that can be hidden but never extinguished."

"To be free is not merely to cast off one's chains, but to live in a way that respects & enhances the freedom of others." ( )

The book was awfully long and rather ponderous in places but this is largely because Mandela seems to be trying to give every person his due -- every person who attended every meeting is mentioned by name. It is yet more evidence of his generosity of spirit and ability to see the best in every person. I was glad I read this book through to the end as it came together and showed what a truely remarkable person Mandela is. ( )