On the 15th of December, Nelson Mandela was buried, an event that was apparently commemorated all over the world. Here in Tromsø, hundreds of people walked across the iconic Tromsø bridge with torches in hand (though, unfortunately, the strong winds tended to extinguish them), and then gathered in the city center, where there were a few speeches, some talking with some South African youth going to university here, and a concert. Walking across the bridge was supposed to be an appropriate way to honor a bridge-builder such as Mandela.

I was one of those people walking across the bridge. After all, when I was very young and went to elementary school, and was forced to write essays, I mentioned Mandela in one of them. I had made it one of my more “creative” essays; in this one, I invented high-tech stuff and saved the world like a superhero – including saving him. So, already, back then, I knew how important a force he was for the world.

Of course, in real life, I didn’t save him, but at least I could walk that bridge for him, I suppose. But my intention isn’t to praise and idolize him as if he was some kind of superhuman. I think that’s the wrong way forward. He was just a human. Like all of us, he made mistakes, sometimes pretty serious ones (particularly during his years as a freedom fighter who used violence where necessary). We should keep that in mind, because if everyone thinks of him as perfect, then nobody may have the courage to follow in his footstep. And if nobody does, then his efforts may well have been in vain.

What I find most interesting about him, then, is how one man can make such an impact on the world, despite being a regular, fallible human. And what that says about the potential sleeping within the rest of us. You don’t have to be perfect to make a difference. You just have to have the courage to do what you think is right.

And that’s, perhaps, the way he would want us to see it. Because, in order to continue his legacy, the important thing would not be to inspire millions of people crying out for a good leader (though it might not hurt). Rather, it would be to inspire those few who follow their own unique way through life, because only those seem to find themselves in a real position to change the world. And those kind of people follow their own hearts, nobody else’s. Only by encouraging them to do just that might they become actual forces for changing the world.

I know I’m not a follower. I have no idols and I follow only my own heart. I know I’m not perfect, and through my life I’ve made many mistakes I regret. So, if there’s one way Mandela’s legacy might inspire me to work for a better world, then it is by showing that it’s all right to be like that, it’s still possible to make a difference. Perhaps it just might be worth trying.

Rest in peace, man.