"Do what you can with what you have". (Eleanor Roosevelt) .... God will do the rest.

"The ultimate measure of woman is not where she stands in moments of comfort and convenience, but how she conducts herself in times of challenge and controversy." - Martin Luther King -

"I know God will not give me anything I can't handle; I just wish that He didn't trust me so much". - Mother Teresa

Zim is once again at a critical cross-road in her history. We are about to walk this journey together - where it will lead none of us can say. What will transpire along the way no one can tell. We would be forgiven for feeling absolutely, helplessly and hopelessly out of control headed for a place which has the full potential of turning our lives as we know them upside down.

I speak to you women today as mums, sisters, daughters, wives, friends, home makers, teachers, lawyers, politicians; whichever thread you are, woven into the fabric which comprises who and what we are today at this point in our journey. My intention is to share some thoughts and feelings with you so that we may at the least feel a little more grounded, uplifted and empowered to do whatever needs to be done to move us through this task set before us to the promised land

I propose that the fate of our lives, our families, our community and ultimately of our country lies as much in our hands as any one person or situation; as women we have been given all the resources we could ever need to do what needs to be done. Every one of us has a purpose to make a difference in this world for the very short time that we spend in this classroom of life; whether the trials and tribulations we are given strengthen or weaken us is ultimately up to us. This must be one of the ultimate tests of our lives right now. Why are we still hanging in here; feeling the fear and doing it anyway?

What is life if not to share it with someone; to love, to laugh, to cry, to reach out and lift someone up, to teach, to encourage and inspire someone to become who and what they were meant to be? Ask any mother who has lost a child; the emptiness is crushing; the void is gaping; the emptiness left behind is unbearable. Ask anyone who has moved to another country what the worst thing is, the thing that is so agonising that despite all the wonders of full supermarket shelves, full time water and zesa supplies makes life so insufferable that many have chosen to come home - I know of at least half a dozen people who have done just that in the last three months! You'll get the same answers back; loneliness, community, education.

Mother Teresa said that the worst affliction and suffering is for a human being to be alone. Having little or no objective, involvement, or meaningful interaction with other human beings with whom we can be ourselves and who love and understand us because we have shared so much history and move so easily in and out of each other's lives. We have countless opportunities on a daily basis to do just this; and we do.

In Zim today as we approach only God knows what, I would like to argue that we do have control over our future by going out there and choosing how we want to respond to any situation; we are capable of creating our destiny! How?

By realizing two fundamental truths,

1. "This too will pass" (Shakespeare)

2. "Whatever is at the centre of our life will be the source of
our security, guidance, wisdom and power." (Stephen Covey)

Firstly, "This too, will pass" is something I learned from my mum; meaning that it would do us well to remember that all we have and all we have ever had is this brief, exquisite moment. In a second that moment has already become the past. There's nothing we can do on this planet to bring it back so we might as well let it go. The only thing it can do is hold us back from giving 100% to now. The future is only ever made up exclusively of all our "present moments" and so all we truly have is this space in time we call "now".

The reality is that the future comes at 60 seconds a minute, 60 minutes an hour, thus it can be convincingly argued that we have do have absolute control over this very instant in that :

We choose how to act or react.

We choose to be a part of the problem or a part of the solution.

We choose to be passive or active.

We choose to dim or brighten our light in this world.

We choose how we want to see our world around us.

We are what we focus on; do we wear the "lack of" tinted glasses or the "abundance" tinted glasses through which we view everything that happens in our lives. Do we go through our lives expecting problems, not trusting people, anticipating disaster at every turn in our day or do we see the common good in everyone, or do we suspend our judgement and prejudice by FIRST seeking to understand, then to be understood?

Live, let's really live in the moment. Seize it and therefore the day, week, the month, the year. Ensure that on the other side of the elections or whenever, we can look back with pride at how we conducted ourselves not with shame at what we were reduced to.

The second guiding truth is to ask ourselves what is at the centre of our life?
I'm not alone when I say that we are continually wondering why we're still here. Here are a few of my reasons - interestingly, the same reasons many decide to go!

1. Education - The total package our school system / community system and
parental system affords our kids is second to none; they learn self-discipline, team spirit, delaying of gratification and have learned to respect each other and themselves regardless of history, background, colour or religion. They are drilled in all the principles essential and fundamental to success in the world today. Taught to take responsibility for their actions, they develop a keen awareness of what is morally, ethically and spiritually right and wrong. Pride in themselves but most importantly in what and whom they represent is nurtured so that long after they leave school, their affiliation to school and country binds them ever stronger together all over the world as they study, work and dream about one day returning home.

2. Health - Fast food in Zim is most likely to be a skinny, wretched
free-range chicken running for it's life from a mob of starving Zimbos . it certainly is not a big Mac, a pizza or any of the humongous servings of junk food so readily and easily available in the first world!! Our kids play sport every afternoon and stand little chance of developing type 2 diabetes or cardiovascular diseases such as is being seen in "successful" and "progressive" countries. Our problem is not too much food; rather a continuous battle to spend our heard-earned money on what foods can yield the most nutrition!

3. Security - The utter tragedy of our current situation is that our people
are peace-loving. Desperate to work an honest day to feed, clothe and educate their children as well as to have the basic fundamental human right of being able to take a critically ill child to the hospital and to at least stand a chance of receiving help. "Blessed are the poor in spirit" can be seen every day in every way right now here in Zim. There is nothing more humbling than the way in which our destitute, struggling, suffering countrymen and women carry their load. With dignity, with selflessness and so much sacrifice. Their loss is our loss. The crisis has strengthened our community; there is no colour or class which has not taken a beating; which has not been dealt the card of injustice, brutality and experienced the darkness which currently hangs over our land.

A University of Zim graduate, I was capped by and received my degree from Robert Mugabe; we had it all; peace, reconciliation, the promise of a great new future. It was a proud moment for both myself and everyone who was a part of this new era. Yes, something went terribly wrong; that's not to say all those thousands of us graduates went wrong. Not to say that we didn't have a taste of what could be; of what is possible. Of what has already been possible. We learned together, we built foundations for our new community together and we still have the unique directive from that era to fulfil; a bright new future. I work with and continue to see so many of us out there striving and believing ceaselessly to this end. Every encounter strengthens our faith that our mutual history was for a reason.

At the centre of all of our lives are our children, our family, our community and our Zim. Our experience up until now is a gift; the good and the bad for this has moulded us into who we are. In exchange for all our blessings, we ought to be committed to using every resource we have to making the difference.

Zimbabwe, and the responsibility for what she is and where she is, is going our nucleus. Consciously or unconsciously that's why we're still here. Wherever, however, whenever .. we decided long ago that we believe in the common good of her people, that this beautiful country will once again become the jewel of Africa; where Henry Olonga's "Our Zimbabwe" will indeed be a place where our children belong. Each one of us has a Divine purpose in realising this dream and making it a reality for you, for me, but most importantly for our future generations.

Never forget that the impact a woman has on every life around her is vast! Our attitude sets the scene wherever we go, whatever we do; no matter how seemingly big or small. Never forget that. To conclude, the ultimate measure of how we conduct ourselves, the way in which we handle what God has trusted us to do depends on the depth to which we focus on

the power of living in the moment and

the purpose rooted in those things we hold as precious and worth more than our own life itself.

With these tools, we can do anything, be anything, overcome anything. I leave you with a final few words which steel my resolve when I'm feeling a little shaky from "The Invitation". I now invite you to be who and what you were meant to be. May the Lord our God Bless all of Zimbabwe's women; may He give us the courage and the strength to hear the call of our people to live our lives on purpose for each other, our men, our children and our country. Let's do it because it sits well with our soul; regardless of the outcome; let the result of our actions take care of themselves.

Proudly born Zimbabwean

Debi Jeans

THE INVITATION

It doesn't interest me what you do for a living. I want to know what you ache for, and if you dare to dream of meeting your heart's longing.

It doesn't interest me how old you are. I want to know if you will risk looking like a fool for love, for your dream, for the adventure of being alive.

It doesn't interest me what planets are squaring your moon. I want to know if you have touched the centre of your own sorrow, if you have been opened by life's betrayals or have become shrivelled and closed from fear of further pain. I want to know if you can sit with pain, mine or your own, without trying to hide it or fade it or fix it.

I want to know if you can be with joy, mine or your own, if you can dance with wildness and let the ecstasy fill you to the tips of your fingers and toes without cautioning us to be careful, to be realistic, to remember the limitations of being human.

It doesn't interest me if the story you are telling me is true. I want to know if you can disappoint another to be true to yourself; if you can bear the accusation of betrayal and not betray your own soul.

I want to know if you can see beauty, even when it's not pretty, every day, and if you can source your own life from it's presence.

I want to know if you can live with failure, yours and mine, and still stand on the edge of the lake and shout to the silver of the full moon "Yes!"

It doesn't interest me to know where you live or how much money you have. I want to know if you can get up, after the night of grief and despair, weary and bruised to the bone, and do what needs to be done to feed the children.

It doesn't interest me who you know or how you came to be here. I want to know if you will stand in the centre of the fire with me and not shrink back.

It doesn't interest me where or what or with whom you have studied. I want to know what sustains you from the inside, when all else falls away.

I want to know if you can be alone with yourself and if you truly like the company you keep in the empty moments.

From The Invitation, written by Oriah Mountain Dreamer