"I was thinking how a man could spend thirty years in prison, and come out and forgive the men who did it to him..." - Francois Pienaar.

There are very few movies coming out of Hollywood these days that truly inspire us to reach higher, try harder and, more importantly, to change. Thanks to our beloved Clint Eastwood who does an absolutely magnificent job of portraying this remarkable story of Nelson Mandela as he takes the reigns of South Africa's leadership from former president, F.W. de Klerk, Invictus is a very moving and deeply inspiring film that does just that.

Perhaps I am biased towards the film with my own admiration for Eastwood and the fact that my wife is from South Africa and still holds her citizenship there. I have traveled to South Africa three times in 1997, 2002 & 2005 and have witnessed with my own eyes the extreme poverty and deep racial tensions that still plague this beautiful nation. But in spite of such great sorrow caused by the dark & evil apartheid system, what really strikes me about this particular film are some of the deep moral lessons delivered so masterfully and with such great humility from Mandela's own words.

One of my favorite scenes is when Mandela assigns some white bodyguards to his security force the head of security becomes very upset with Mandela's decision pointing to the very good possibility that these very men were but yesterday hunting us like dogs, dragging us into the streets and murdering our people. With a gentle spirit, a very wise Mandela describes his vision of a "rainbow nation" to the head of security encouraging him to let go of what he had every right to feel towards the white bodyguards, "Forgiveness liberates the soul, it removes fear, that is why it is such a powerful weapon."

Through years of brutality and persecution, Mandela should have come out a bitter old man but instead, he had discovered something far more powerful than petty retribution. May we all be inspired to greatness in 2010 as we leave behind any negative thoughts that could hinder us from changing, reaching higher, going farther and making this new year, 2010, a year to remember!

If you haven't seen it yet, by all means, go and watch it. I'd love to hear your own comments about the movie and how it could relate to and inspire all of us!

by Jason Brown, Executive Vice President of ERA The Good Broker