Gold Shares

I'd also like to stand next to Nelson Mandela, wouldn't you? I'd have to win the Ironman, probably something like the World Championships in Hawaii, to earn that privilege. When I look at this picture, I'm happy for Ryk more than I wish it was me standing there. Both these guys didn't give up. Both got what they deserved.

There is a saying in Afrikaans that has a nice ring to it. Soort soek soort. This picture makes me think of that. The English version is a bit clumsier: Birds of a feather flock together. Cute kiddie voiceover: That's what this picture is all about.

If it's someone who is the icon of Personal Power - getting it, holding on to it, never letting it go - if you're looking for the ultimate ambassador of Personal Power STOP! He's here. Nelson Mandela, jailed for 27 years. Not everyone knows that he was offered pardons several times, and occasionally encouraged to escape. Once he was driven out of Pollsmoor prison and left uncuffed in a car, while the driver, a prison official, went to buy a snack. That was an invitation to run. When you have a choice between grabbing short term freedoms, or holding on to your integrity, and your hopes and dreams for a nation, and you choose to stay incarcerated for more years of your precious life, until they come true - that's claiming your Personal Power. Mandela was released on a Sunday, the 11th of February 1990. He was President 4 years later (in 1994, May 10).

It makes me happy to see this guy, who went to my school, trained where I did, with the same coach, doing something great, becoming something special. I enjoy all the news I read about him. It's amazing. It makes me realise what is possible, and it inspires me to do things that require a bit of discipline for me. We are world's apart now, but I know we come from the same place. I know what I have done in swimming, and I remember that I can generate some magic too. I can still do it.

Ryk Neethling is someone I sometimes swam with, and at one stage he was just a boytjie from Bloem. We called him Rykie. Ryk is actually the afrikaans word for rich. Someone knew, when they gave him that name, that'd he'd eventually get into gold. He's walked that path, and that's inspiration for everyone who hasn't.
http://www.virtualology.com/virtualmuseumofhistory/
internationalhall/worldleaders/NELSONRMANDELA.NET/