Last night the prison showed Invictus, a film starring Morgan Freeman as Nelson Mandela. I would have liked to watch it, but I made a commitment long ago to avoid watching television viewing after 5:00 in the afternoon, and the movie was being shown at 7:00 p.m. I rarely watch television during the mornings or afternoons either, but on occasion I’ll watch a show during the day if I’m between projects.
Nelson Mandela has inspired me for many years. When he was released from prison during the early 1990s I was in the beginning stages of my imprisonment. I knew that he had served 27 years and that comparable to the 26 years I was scheduled to serve. I read his biography, A Long Walk to Freedom, and the story gave me hope that when my prison term concluded I could enjoy a contributing, fulfilling life of some kind. I didn’t expect to lead a country, as Mr. Mandela did, but at least I could walk out of prison with my dignity intact and my spirit strong. To achieve such goals, I understood that I would need to lead a goal-centered adjustment through the decades I would serve.
As I approach the end of my 23rd year, I still follow that strategy because of the lessons I learned from reading about my role models—Nelson Mandela, Malcolm X, Viktor Frankl, Aleksander Solzhenitzyn, Elie Weisal, and other men who walked free from prison stronger than when they were locked inside. I don’t miss television. Time alone is what I have come to cherish. Time alone gives me time to think, to contemplate the life I want to create with my wife when I leave prison.
I look forward to watching Invictus at home, when Carole will be close beside me.
Ran 10 miles / 4,802 miles over 540 days
200 pushups / 59,000 pushups in 2010
Saturday, 5 June 2010
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