Wife: Nelson Mandela has one regret - CNN.com
As part of the Mandela at 90 series, CNN.com's Robyn Curnow interviewed Machel Mandela, Nelson Mandela's wife. Interestingly, Machel mentioned one regret of the man who had arguably the greatest influence in defeating the South African policy apartheid. Alas, Nelson Mandela may be one of the world's strongest voices in the world when it comes to racial equality.
So what posible regret would this man have? He regrets not having as much "input in the development of his children" as he'd like. In other words, Nelson Mandela, an influencer of world policy, didn't have the influence that he'd like to have in the lives of his children. In Mandela's case, he sacrificed his paternal right in fighting for civil rights, particularly as he was imprisoned for his views about the racist policies of apartheid.
I think this is a good warning for parents. Often parents sacrifice influence over their children in seeking material things or career success. Mandela had a magnificent cause guiding him when he sacrificed his fatherly influence. I'm not sure, will owning another Lexus or making Senior VP of Money Making will seem more important when the typical father reaches his 90s.
