I Am The Master Of My Fate --- R.I.P. Nelson Mandela

While incarcerated at Robben Island and Pollsmoor prisons for 27 years, Nelson Mandela was known to recite Invictus (Latin for "unconquered"), a poem written by William Ernest Henley, to the other prisoners. In our world, filled with so many challenges and unknowns, this is an empowering message. "I am the master of my fate: I am the captain of my soul" is something I absolutely believe. Or, as my long-time friend Scott Friedman is known to say, "The best way to predict the future, is to create it."

Out of the night that covers me,

      Black as the pit from pole to pole,

I thank whatever gods may be

      For my unconquerable soul.

In the fell clutch of circumstance

      I have not winced nor cried aloud.

Under the bludgeonings 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 scroll,

I am the master of my fate,

      I am the captain of my soul.