On Mandela´s way

What have I learned reading this book? Such a difficult question when the book makes you analyze your own life in so many aspects. Each of the fifteen chapters comes very close to home in some way. However, and having to choose what I  will carry with me, I think some of my favorite ideas were the one about leading from the back, looking or playing the part and finding and taking care of your garden (which I think is extremely related to knowing when to say no).

Concernig leading from the back I very often find myself in situations where one wanders how those words came out of one´s mouth. leading from the back is a great way to control myself since it takes more thought to lead than to act in many an occation.

Related to playing the part humans tend to see and understad better the information that already fits on previous structures, and this is the case here. I am the kind of person who thinks what she is going to wear to battle her boss, to pass an exam or to a demonstration, when the occation calls for it and I can find the energy... Mandela´s acquiescence on the point made me feel a little less superficial?

Finaly, looking for and taking care of your garden reminded me that it is important to take care of one´s self and look for a retrieve. I very often forget about this and find myself in the middle of the chaos with no place or time to consider where things are heading.

All in all, out of the individual lessons from some chapters however, the book gave me and overall positive feeling and a great lesson on humbleness; there is that man who is one of the icons of our century allways thinking about what he could learn from others and getting closer to those he thought could teach him. It is the person, at the end, that leaves me at an awe!