You can

Much was written this last week about the legacy of Nelson Mandela.

Author and blogger Seth Godin’s message to those of us wanting to change the world was to take this lesson from Mandela’s life.

You can. You can make a difference. You can stand up to insurmountable forces. You can put up with far more than you think you can. Your lever is far longer than you imagine it is, if you choose to use it. If you don’t require the journey to be easy or comfortable or safe, you can change the world.

For those aspiring to do more and to change the world, if even in a little way, there will always be doubts. It’s too hard. I don’t have the time. I don’t have the money. I’m not smart enough. I cannot do it as well as someone else. My law firm or company will never let me.

Yes, all challenges. But compare that to Mandela. 30 years in prison, negotiating a peaceful end to apartheid, and being elected President of a country which just decades earlier dictated you live in poverty and segregation.

That’s incredible change. Against all odds. So like you, I must never lose site, that “You can” make a difference.