We watched the Clint Eastwood film ‘Invictus’ the other evening.\u00a0 Have you seen it? It’s a good, thought-provoking film and an interesting one to watch with children (over 11).<\/p>\n
What’s the title?\u00a0 It’s a Victorian poem by William Henley, written when he was in hospital, aged 25, having his leg amputated.\u00a0\u00a0The\u00a0last two lines are what stick in the mind<\/p>\n
\u00a0“I am the master of my fate: I am the captain of my soul<\/em>.”<\/p>\n Nelson Mandela had Henley’s poem written on a scrap of paper in his prison cell.\u00a0 If you ever wanted to give kids a shining example of someone who was the master, and not the victim,\u00a0of his own fate, Nelson Mandela has got to be up at the top.\u00a0 No blaming others, no time wasted on revenge.\u00a0Unlike most of us, he put those feelings aside.<\/p>\n This sense of self-determination reminds me of a parenting course I took once.\u00a0 Apparently the well-meant “Well done! I am so proud of you”\u00a0 – <\/em>something I say all the time – should be\u00a0 “Well done! You must be so proud of yourself “.\u00a0 <\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n Empowering, no?<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" We watched the Clint Eastwood film ‘Invictus’ the other evening.\u00a0 Have you seen it? It’s a good, thought-provoking film and an interesting one to watch with children (over 11). What’s the title?\u00a0 It’s a Victorian…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":8739,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[1],"tags":[],"yoast_head":"\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\t\n\t\n\n\n\n\n\t\n\t\n\t\n