CHOICES

Every child is born with their fists clutched and within those clutched fists are all the gifts, all the abilities, skills and talents bestowed upon that child by the creator. As the child grows older and slowly extends her palms she unleashes all those gifts and it is up to every individual, every person, every man, woman and child to utilises those gifts to the fullest. Now some people do and some people don't and those who do will realise that they have skills that they never knew they had because they took the time to explore those gifts and use them.

It's all a matter of choice. As we walk through this life we all have choices to be happy or sad, successful or unsuccessful, to live life to the full or to just live from day to day, to be rich or to be poor. We have the choice to realise our dreams or to hold back and live and die frustrated and sad. But it's all about choices, the choices we make for ourselves.

I'm going to share with you some of the choices I've made and as I look back and reflect on these, choices I realise that my life could easily have been very, very different. And as you read this I want you to listen and reflect back on the choices you have made for yourself. As an individual, for your family as a parent and realise that you are and were responsible for what you turned out to be for what your life turned out to be. If you have children, you were responsible for what they are and if you have a lover or a husband or a wife, you are also responsible for what that person is because of the choices that you make everyday.

• I chose to leave school at the age of nineteen to get a job because of financial difficulties my family experienced when my father stopped working.

• I chose to take up theatre and drama as a hobby and used my acting ability to educate people who couldn't read or write when the Aids pandemic hit Zimbabwe through theatre and songs.

• I chose to leave home (Zimbabwe) and go to England and study and chose not to have an abortion when I fell pregnant three months after I got there.

• I chose to go back home and face ridicule and shame instead of giving up my baby for adoption.

• I chose to get married at the age of twenty-two to give my child the love and stability of family life, even though I didn't feel I was ready.

• I chose to get married to a man who is gentle and kind, who does not drink or smoke and didn't have a penny to his name (today he is a Gynaecologist).

• I chose to accept his difficult parents for what they were and didn't make him choose between his mother and myself.

• I chose to love her and respect her because she brought him into this world and without her he wouldn't be mine.

• I chose to leave my country Zimbabwe to support my partner and be with him while he studied and specialised at a University in South Africa.

• I chose to go back to university after working for nine years, getting married, having two small children aged three and five and being completely broke.

• I chose to make clothes for people and sell them at craft markets to raise my college fees.

• I chose to complete my final year regardless of the fact that I was pregnant AGAIN and my baby was due one week before my final exams. I made it.

• I chose to reward myself with a ten day holiday in Australia, Malaysia and Singapore for my personal achievement and hard work and left three small children at home including my eight month old baby. When I came back after ten days they were still there and they loved me even more than before.

• I chose to put a high price tag on my head and market myself on the job market and now have an excellent job that pays me what I think I'm worth.

• I chose to spend a lot of money to send my children to the best school in town for a good education, even though I can't afford it right now.

• I chose to give my children African names rich in culture and meaning, Simbarashe (the power of God), Ziyanda (the blessings are increasing) and Dumisani (give Praise) so that they could grow up being proud of their heritage and proud of being black and beautiful.

• I choose to encourage and motivate people around me everyday because I know that I could make a difference for every one I meet.

• I choose to share my life's story with people when I give motivational speeches, in my writing and in my poetry because someone out there might be experiencing the same thing and not realise that there are a lot of ways out of a difficult situation.

• I choose to share my culture, my value systems with people because I believe in diversity and the beauty of people's differences.

• I choose to motivate and encourage young people to wear their skin with pride and to realise that black is beautiful despite what anybody says.

• I choose to put trust in my creator and know that whatever I go through in life, will only make me a better and stronger person.

• I choose to accept that life has its ups and downs and whenever I am experiencing a DOWN I know that the only way life will go after that is UP.

• I choose to write poetry, stories and commentaries in my spare time to express myself and explore my creativity.

I've made a lot of choices in my life, they haven't all been right but the ones I've listed here were all the right choices. List your choices and see just what you have done with your life and the lives of those around you.

Forward questions and comments to Getrude Matshe. E-mail: simzisani@hotmail.com