Early last week I was watching one of my favourite films (again) – Invictus – the story of Nelson Mandela and the South African Rugby team and the rugby world cup. It’s a wonderfully inspiring film. One of the lines caught my imagination “We must all exceed our own expectations” – and I decided to make that my theme for 2014 – to exceed my own expectations.
A few days later, of course, Nelson Mandela passed away. And I, like I’m sure many of you, was left considering the impact of this incredible and inspiring man. It is truly miraculous what he was able to achieve in his life – from his early days as a freedom fighter, to becoming the president of the country that locked him up for 27 years of his life…if Hollywood had made it up, we would all be saying how utterly fantastical and unrealistic it was!
But there you go – reality can be more surprising than fiction at times. And this one man was able to do so much in his life. To exceed his own expectations, I’m sure. And to inspire millions of others to exceed their expectations…including the South African rugby captain Francois Pienaar and his team, who were definitely not expecting (or expected) to win the Rugby world cup in 1995 as depicted in Invictus.
We must all exceed our own expectations.
This line is not attributed to Nelson Mandela, but is a quote from Morgan Freeman in the film. However, even if Nelson Mandela didn’t say that exactly, he certainly lived it!
And now, I invite you to live it too.
To exceed your own expectations.
To be more than you think you can be.
To live more fully than you’ve ever dared to live before.
To declare your Big Dreams and then to make them happen.
To fall head over heels in love with your life.
To live at a higher level of joy and creativity than you ever imagined possible, by creating the life that is calling.
By listening to you the call of your soul, and responding powerfully and persistently to make your life the best it can be, and call from yourself all that you can be. (which you know is more than you’re living, right?)
You don’t have to sacrifice 27 years of your life, and your family to live this fully (thankfully, that is not the path we all must follow!) But you do have to admit what you really want, deal with (and ignore!) your fears, take action, keep going whatever obstacles come across your path, be tenacious and courageous, and believe that you are capable of and deserve the best in your life. (This last one is often the most difficult for people!)
It starts with the commitment to live your life fully – are you prepared to exceed your own expectations?
Love
Donna.x