olice Brutality On Journalists: An Attack on Freedom of Expression, The Media and The Constitution!

The brutal and subsequent illegal arrest of Obey Manayiti and other journalists by the ZRP for doing their work is intolerable, retrogressive, unconstitutional and a clear violation of the journalists' rights of freedom of expression and freedom of the media, in short it is a clear indictment on Sections 61 and 62 of the Constitution!

We strongly condemn the police without any equivocation or ambiguity for harassing, terrorising, clobbering and wantonly brutalising journalists -State terrorism at its worst. It is sad that in this country journalists unlike in other democratic jurisdictions, face viscious violent attacks from state security apparatus particularly the police who are supposed to uphold and respect both journalists and fundamental human rights as they are sacredly enshrined in the country's Constitution!

This attack on the members of the fourth estate clearly shows the regretful reality that in so called independent Zimbabwe, members of the media just like during the brutal Smith dictatorship  are terrorised, tortured and beaten for doing their jobs. Today's police brutality actually indicate that the sad reality that besides having adopted a new constitution with a brilliant Bill of Rights, the zanu led government is deliberately failing to develop a democratic political and constitutional culture imbued with basic principles of constitutionalism and the rule of law.

As citizens we urgently demand that the police who brutalised Manayiti and his colleagues be removed from the police force and in turn be arrested and convicted for human rights violations and  crimes against journalists and humanity at large!

#PoliceBrutalityMustStop
#RespectJournalists

Linda T. Masarira
Zimbabwe Women in Politics Alliance

HOLDING OF FAKE ELECTIONS IN ZIMBABWE

1. The role played by the ruling party ZANU – PF

2. The complicity of the opposition parties

There have never been free, fair and credible elections in Zimbabwe since 2000 particularly in the rural areas where the majority of voters live (about 70 %) accounting for 143 contestable constituencies out of 210. Voters are coerced to vote for ZANU PF against their will through violence and intimidation and this has always assured ZANU PF of predetermined and illegitimate election outcomes in their favour.

The ZANU PF and Mugabe’s strategy of forcing the electorate to vote against their will involves the following:

1. ZANU PF forces rural voters to attend their political meetings/rallies against their will where they are told how to vote for ZANU PF. Those that attend opposition rallies are identified, denounced and later punished.
2. On voting day, voters are marshalled and frogmarched to polling stations by village heads and queue in a predetermined order with the village head at the back ordering everyone to vote for ZANU PF. 
3. Literate voters such as teachers, civil servants (In some cases ZEC polling officers) and known opposition party supporters are also intimidated and forced to feign illiteracy so that they are assisted to vote.
4. There was widespread violence in the 2002 and 2008 presidential elections, Many people were assaulted, murdered and property was looted or destroyed. Women were also raped. ZANU PF succeeds in using this as a reference point to intimidate the electorate to vote against their will and the voters have nowhere to turn to for help.
5. Violence during elections is state sponsored. Known perpetrators are not arrested. Polling day in Zimbabwe is made peaceful in order to hoodwink election observers into believing that elections are free and fair

This strategy of forcing voters to vote for ZANU PF against their will using violence, intimidation, coercion, destruction of property and abuse of traditional leaders started on a large scale during the by-elections held in the following constituencies:

Marondera West  in 2000
Bikita, Bindura, Makoni West, Chikomba in 2001
Presidential elections and Insiza by election in 2002.

The strategy was perfected and employed on a greater scale in June 2008 Presidential elections run off.  It usually focuses on coercing defenceless rural voters to vote for ZANU PF against their will. However in the 2008 Presidential elections run off, the strategy was used in urban high density areas as well.

In 2013 there was no widespread violence used but intimidation was rampant with war veterans and ZANU PF youths and officials threatening villagers with a repetition of 2008 atrocities if the rural voters disobeyed orders to vote for ZANU PF against their will.

WHY HAS THE STRATEGY WORKED

ZANU PF has been able to use the strategy of coercing people to vote against their will since 2000 with impunity due to the following:

No opposition party has ever fully exposed the ZANU PF strategy of coercing people to vote against their will. Instead the opposition dwells on minor, peripheral and sometimes fictitious issues. This is a diversion which takes away focus from the core issue of the ZANU PF strategy of coercing voters to vote against their will.

Examples Of Diversionary Issues And Tactics Used By Opposition Political Parties To Protect The Strategy

a) They loudly accuse ZANU PF of using a defective voters roll to rig elections. However, the Catholic Commission for Justice and Peace (CCPJ) in the Zimbabwe Electoral Commission (ZEC) report notes that a voter’s roll can never be perfect in any country .A perfect voters roll cannot stop ZANU PF from coercing people to vote against their will.

b) They call for the amendment, repeal and realignment of the country’s electoral laws. But it should be noted that ZANU PF and the state violate The Zimbabwean Constitution, local laws, regional and international laws in an effort to coerce voters to vote for ZANU PF against their will. Therefore adding more laws whilst existing ones are not being respected cannot solve the current problem.

c) A shadowy Israeli organization named NIKUV which opposition parties have accused of manipulating election results in favour of ZANU PF is a creation of a discredited Facebook character Baba Jukwa, in 2013, yet coercion of rural voters has happened since 2000. Thus this NIKUV fiction came when we already had our problem.

d) The ZEC Report on the 2013 Harmonized Elections and the findings of an investigation into Mliswa’s Complaint in the 2015 Zimbabwe Human Rights Commission (ZHRC) Report, clearly highlighted the ZANU PF strategy of coercing voters to vote against their will as the major rigging mechanism. These reports were tabled in Parliament. However, opposition parties looked the other way and never discussed them.

e) The Zimbabwe Human Rights Commission in its pre-election press statement of 29 July 2013 reiterated that “we are ready to receive complaints about any possible election related human rights violations and any other general human rights violations…We will take appropriate action where necessary including, but not limited to, directing the Commissioner General of police to investigate cases of suspected criminal violations of human rights as constitutionally mandated.” However, opposition political parties have failed to work with and take advantage of well-meaning constitutionally constituted state institutions to deal with electoral state sponsored violence.

f) In 2013 there were 9670 polling stations in the country. There is no evidence that a single opposition party identified the problem of forcing voters to vote for ZANU PF. Yet almost all election observers picked it.

g) In the March 2008 Harmonized Elections ZANU PF relaxed the strategy of forcing voters to vote against their will. This was due to the intervention of SADC. Results were displayed at all polling stations and they were signed by party polling agents. This meant that each party could come up with its own results for councillors, Members of Parliament and the Presidential candidate. In April 2008, a recount was done in 23 constituencies. A verification process was conducted at the Sheraton Hotel at which every political party was required by SADC to produce its own results. The MDC – T failed to produce their own Presidential candidate’s election results. They could therefore not contest the results announced by ZEC. This failure possibly prejudiced the MDC candidate and the people of Zimbabwe of a great victory. 

h) Opposition parties now believe that massive voter registration is the panacea for all our electoral problems. The message being relayed is that voters should gather courage and defy ZANU PF orders by refusing to vote against their will. Elections are not meant for brave voters. In the first place they must never be coerced to vote against their will. Opposition political parties and civil society organizations should therefore advocate, canvass and lobby for an end to the coercion of voters to vote against their will and not canvass for bravery. The brave ones are usually abducted and killed and voters have experienced this.

EVIDENCE OF COERCION OF VOTERS BY ZANU PF

The following observations demonstrate the lack of “one man, one vote” in the 2013 elections and how voters were coerced to vote for ZANU PF against their will:

1. In its 2013 Report, The Zimbabwe Electoral Commission (ZEC) adopted various election observer missions that concluded that the 2013 Harmonized Elections did not meet the criteria of free, fair and credible elections. The Catholic Commission For Justice and Peace Zimbabwe (CCJPZ) observed pre- election, election and post – election environment where all of the above irregularities were rampant and observed that :

Between 2011 and 2013, a War Veteran leader, Mr. Jabulani Sibanda, moved around the country, threatening people with death should his political party, ZANU PF, lose the ‘next elections’ Masvingo Province: Between July 2011 – January 2012; July 2013 he worked with traditional leaders to organize Ward meetings for example in Bikita, Gutu, Chiredzi, Nyika, Mukaro, Chivi, Mwenezi and Masvingo Districts. Told people during ward/village meetings that if ZANU PF looses the next elections, ‘hell will break loose’ as all people will be killed. At some meetings, he said if ZANU PF loses elections, he would slaughter everyone and roast their livers.

Polling Stations Incidents
a) Harare (Mashonaland East Province) Mutoko East constituency, Ward 17 at Chipfiko Primary Polling Station. One woman was forced to have her vote cast by a known person (as an assisted vote).  This was done because the woman was known to have been an MDC supporter/sympathizer so she was forced to be assisted by a ZANU PF member
b) Mutoko district, Mutoko East Ward 18, Bwanya Primary Polling Station.There was a man who assisted someone else to vote. When he then wanted to vote, he was told he also needed to be assisted.
c) Masvingo Mutikizizi Primary school, Bikita South. Generally, the number of assisted voters across the diocese was high with some well-known teachers, nurses and other literate people being assisted to cast their votes. Since the observers were local, they could distinguish between those who genuinely needed assistance and those manipulated into being assisted. At Mutikizizi primary school in Bikita South the observer was a teacher and witnessed his former ‘O’ Level student being assisted to vote not by his relative but by the chairperson of a political party.
d) Gokwe (Midlands/ Matebeleland Provinces) - St. Hughs Polling Station and Mutukanyi Primary Polling Stations: 145 voters were assisted by political party agents. At Mutukanyi Primary Polling Station, a political agent assisted 63 voters. Kwayedza School Polling Station 52 people were allowed to vote on behalf of others Chitsa Polling Station 12 people were assisted to vote as they claimed to be blind. When the presiding officer was asked by an observer why the number of blind voters was that high at the polling station, the presiding officer told the observer that he was not an optician.Chomuuyu, Gunguwe Shingai, Mhumha and Chimhamhari Polling Stations. People known to be highly literate, and even many youths were seeking assistance to vote. At Shingai and Mhumha Polling stations, a political agent voted for 53 and 61 people respectively.Mtanki SDA Primary School Polling Station (Gokwe South) – 32 people were assisted to vote.
Incident Summary Of Assisted Voters
The CCJPZ observed intimidation and coercion, especially by some traditional leaders through “group/village voting”. This involved instances where voters were instructed to take turns to vote under the watchful scrutiny of their Village Heads. There were also several incidents that involved traditional leaders lining up villagers, making a note of their ID numbers and sending them to specific polling stations to vote. This was particularly common in Bikita, Mwenezi, Gutu, Gokwe and Mutoko. In some cases, voters were given a voting number which some of the traditional leaders claimed they could use to trace whom the voter voted for. The following cases are examples of how assisted voting was forced:
a) Case 1: Justifying voting without assistance. On 31st July 2013 Mrs. China was asked by a local political activist why she voted without assistance as she was supposed to be assisted during voting. Mrs China said she was not illiterate that is why she voted on her own. Mrs. China reported the case to a Police Officer outside the polling room. The Police Officer announced to the queuing voters to stop such ‘bad crimes.’ However the Police Officer didn’t probe the matter any further. The political activist is still at his home. The Police Officer did not take any effective action. 
b) Case 2: How somebody was assisted to vote. It was just a day after the election and I visited Mrs. Phiri, one of the assisted voters. As an observer l asked her why she was assisted to vote and she told me that as she went to the polling station and was about 150m away from the station she met five people standing on the road. Mrs. Phiri was instructed to stop by the group and one lady, who seems to be the leaders said: “you have told us that you no longer support any other political party except ZANU PF so to be clear and honest to us today you are illiterate / unable to read and write and you should be assisted to vote by any one of us. If you disagree nothing is going to be given to you like maize and you may be at risk soon after the elections.” Mrs. Phiri told me that she was warned not to say that she was forced to pretend illiteracy, but to say she was illiterate. Out of fear Mrs. Phiri complied and went with one of the ladies to assist her in voting. This method was conducted in the whole ward. In each and every way to the polling station ZANU PF deployed its members to threaten people so that they vote for ZANU PF.

2. In 2015 The Zimbabwe Human Rights Commission ( ZHRC ) investigated complaints of human rights violations by an Independent Candidate (Temba Mliswa) in the June 10 Hurungwe West By – Elections in Mashonaland West Province of Zimbabwe and found that :

a) ZANU PF violated Constitutinal Rights Section 67,The Electoral Act (Chapter 2 : 13),Criminal law ( Codification and reform) Act [Chapter 9: 23],International Law on Human Rights, African Charter on Human and Peoples Rights, SADC Principles and Guidelines governing democratic Elections.

b) Hon. Ignatius Chombo, the current Home Affairs Minister in Zimbabwe, threatened opposition supporters with violence and not to allow Mliswa’s rallies in the constituency.

c) In the case between Mliswa’s Personal Assistant, Goodwill Zinyama and others, File Number HHRE/CI/333/15, the ZHRC report stated that state sponsored violence was meted out to Mliswa’s workers and opposition supporters at Mliswa’s farm.

d) At Murereshi business centre in ward 26 residents stated that they were being forced to attend ZANU PF rallies and that at one rally they were told that if Mr Keith Guzah loses, the ruling party would deal with them.

e) Village heads connived and worked with ZANU PF against the Independent candidate. There was total disregard of the law as 3 village heads were unprocedurally “dethroned “at a public meeting by ZANU PF.

f) Many other independent election observers in the country have also unearthed similar incidents of electoral irregularities. An example is the Heal Zimbabwe Trust report on the recently held Bikita West By- Election on 21 January 2017 where it was noted that :

i) Actors in the Pre-Election Day Violations

 Heal Zimbabwe established that most of the violations committed in Bikita West were largely meant to harvest fear for electoral victory. Members of the Executive arm of the government, Members of Parliament, ZANU PF leaders and supporters as well as Traditional leaders were the major actors in perpetrating human rights violations and inciting violence. Members of Parliament and the Executive who incited violence and perpetuated human rights violations in Bikita West include; the Masvingo Resident Minister, Hon Shuvai Mahofa, Josiah Hungwe (Minister of State for Liaising on Psychomotor Activities in Education Vocational Training), Joseph Chinotimba (Buhera South MP) Jeppy Jaboon (Bikita South MP) Webster Shamu (Chegutu East MP). Most of these government officials incited violence through their speeches at rallies as well as perpetuating human rights violations by acts of commission and omission. ZANU PF leaders and supporters participated in perpetuating intimidation and partisan distribution of food aid and farming inputs mostly. Traditional leaders perpetuated human rights violations by accepting to be used as political commissars who mobilised villagers to political rallies. They also commanded people to vote for a specific political party instead of maintaining neutrality as prescribed by law. For example Chief Mupakwa called for a meeting at his homestead on the 7th of January 2017 and commanded all people in attendance to vote for ZANU PF failure of which one would be expelled from the village. Chief Marozva also ordered Village Heads under his jurisdiction on the 3rd of January where he implored them to mobilise people to attend a rally scheduled for the 4th of January 2017. The constitution prohibits traditional leaders from campaigning or aligning to any political party or grouping for the purposes of maintaining neutrality and objectivity in their work. Section 281 (2a-b) states that traditional leaders must not “be members of any political party or in any way participate in partisan politics” and “act in a partisan manner.”

ii) Polling Day Environment

 There were incidences of human rights violations with intimidation recording 88% and forced attendance to a political meeting after voting recording 12%. Heal Zimbabwe visited 46 polling stations and within all the polling stations cases of intimidation were noted within the 100 metre radius where polling agents and ZANU PF youth were writing down people's names after voting.

iii) Forced attendances

 Some villagers in Bikita West constituency were also forced to attend political gatherings and meetings. This violation recorded 12% of the total violations observed from the 1st of January 2017. Forced attendance was done through force-marching people, using traditional leaders to call for meetings and through door to door visits. The constitution in section 67(2a) specifies that every citizen has the right “to form, to join and to participate in the activities of a political party or organisation of their choice” yet in Bikita people were threatened with violence if they did not attend rallies. They were told that if they did not attend, they will have their names written down and become targets of violence, face unspecified action or denied food aid.

CONCLUSIONS

1) It can be said that the people of Zimbabwe have not yet achieved what they fought for, ie One Man One Vote. The Rhodesia Front leader Ian Smith was quoted to have said “I don’t believe in black majority rule ever in Rhodesia – not in a thousand years. “  On the other hand ZANU PF quoted in the ZEC 2013 Report told people at their rallies that “There will be war if people do not vote for ZANU PF. If people want peace ,vote for ZANU PF,War is bad but you can avoid it by voting for ZANU PF,This country will not be ruled by any other political party just because of an X “.

2) The ZANU PF strategy of coercing voters to vote against their will is simple, basic and blatant. It has existed since the 2000 by – elections to present because the opposition political parties have chosen to look the other way and continue to sing the now familiar and hollow chorus that “Elections have been rigged.“ It is time the civic society, churches and all responsible Zimbabweans begin to advise the urban electorate, the Southern African Development Commission (SADC), The African Union (AU) and other international bodies that rural voters are forced to vote for ZANU PF against their will in all elections.

My analysis about Zimbabwe

Zimbabwe's problems go beyond political parties. I am 101% convinced that Zimbabwe needs a system overhaul and change of leadership. Change of leadership without a system overhaul will be useless. There is no rule of law in Zimbabwe.

It is sad and pathetic that this nation brags of the most educated people in Africa yet they are the most stupid, idiotic and docile beings under the sun. What is the point of being educated when you can not use your education to create sustainable development economically and politically? What is the point of bragging about intellectual capacities when your country has reached comatose stage with no meaningful change in sight?  Where are the legislators? Why are people being oppressed in a supposedly free Zimbabwe?

Zimbabwe is going through a systematic failure. This systematic failure is a result of lack of ethics. We are all responsible for this systematic failure because we all sat back and watched Bob create an evil regime which does not care about the welfare of the citizens of this once beautiful country. i hear and read people claiming
ng that Zimbabwe is a peaceful country. Peaceful my foot. People should learn to differentiate peace from fear. First define what peace is then we will start talking. Zimbabweans are butchering each other every day, domestic violence is the order of the day in most households, women are being raped left right and centre including toddlers, there is violence everywhere because most people have bottled up emotions. they have adopted to an artificial environment which is emotionally draining. All the frustrations which have been cultivated by this evil system are poured out at the wrong places and wrong people.

Zanu pf has nurtured institutions which are not only inefficient and incompetent because all state owned enterprises have collapsed due to massive corruption, lack of accountability and sound corporate ethics. We cannot continue watching our country being run like a tuckshop because we are afraid. Afraid of what and who?  
Millions of bright lives have been destroyed and why are we silent?

The problem in Zimbabwe is not the actual problem, the problem is our attitude towards the problem. We have to deal with the issue of political reforms, if this is not dealt with we are unlikely to see any meaningful economic turnaround. Zimbabwe's crisis is man made and everything that is man made can be reversed. We are suffering from a leadership crisis. We no longer have leaders in Zimbabwe. We now have one invincible dictator and little rulers under the dictator. Who is going to free Zimbabwe from black oppression? How long are we going to pretend that everything is ok when nothing is ok?

The first step is to advocate for the alignment of the of laws with the constitution of Zimbabwe. Since 2013, the laws have not been aligned with the constitution, police continuously abuse zimbabwean citizens because of this anomaly. Where are the legislators? Alignment of the laws with the constitution is not an option but an obligation. It is a serious violation of the constitution to continue having invalid laws in our statute books. Enough is enough. ZIMBABWE WILL NEVER BE A COLONY AGAIN LET US FREE OUR MINDS FROM MENTAL SLAVERY.

Stand up and fight for your rights
Stand up and be counted
Stand up and fight for justice
Stand up and be the hero you are
Life is meant to be enjoyed not to be endured

Iwe neni tine basa to make Zimbabwe a better place. To restore the dignity of this country and to give our children a happier, safer and habitable Zimbabwe.

Good day

Linda T. Masarira
ZWIPA Director

Cry my beloved Zimbabwe cry

I got a very disturbing call from my contact at Arnold farm saying the mothers and their babies in Mazoe are now sleeping in rain soaked blankets in open space.

This is really disturbing considering that yesterday we were celebrating independence day which is synonymous with Zimbabweans reclaiming their land which was forcibly stolen by colonists.

In the National Sports Stadium, the once revolutionaries who liberated us were lambasting the imperialists for stealing our land. But will we ever hear these pan African leaders condemning Grace Mugabe for stealing land and forcing fellow black Zimbabweans from their homes?

Double standards and glorification of strong egoistic personalities over institutions have proven to be our greatest undoing unto ourselves.

Zimbabwe deserves better and we are the ones we have been waiting for to transform our independence into freedom for the people.

We all need a Zimbabwe that is responsive to the needs of all its citizens despite economic class, political view, religious beliefs, race and tribe.

Linda T. Masarira

Change starts with you

Change will not come if we wait for some other person or some other time. We are the change that we seek. We are the ones we've been waiting for. I have no doubt that we, Zimbabweans, are the difference between what it is and what it could be.

We are the missing link in the struggle for positive change in our country. Zimbabwe's political and economic quagmire requires our participation. We know in painful detail and through painful experience that freedom is never voluntarily given by the oppressor, it must be demanded by the oppressed.

No one gives up his priviledges without a fight and president Mugabe won't be brushed aside easily like dirt. We have to play our part as Zimbabweans. Zanupf will never reform themselves our of power. We have the generational mandate to reform them out of power. Only a united people with one common shared vision can remove this gerontocracy from power. We are the missing link.

You are the change you have been waiting for. What are you waiting for? Be part of the change you want to see. Together we can.

A new Zimbabwe is possible in our lifetime.

Zimbabwe will be there after Mugabe is long gone

In the midst of the political confusion that has gripped our country many people are wondering if we have come to the end of Zimbabwe.

The answer is simple: the thing called an "end" does not exist, not in relation to a country. Zimbabwe will be there long after Mugabe is gone.

What Mugabe has done is to make us come to the realisation that ours is colonisation by our own fellow brothers. From the frying pan into the fire.

Towards the end of March, innocent Zimbabwean citizens were illegally evicted from Arnold farm in Mazowe. ZRP acting on the first lady Grace Mugabe's instructions defied a high court ruling against the evictions at Arnold farm. Houses were demolished and the little property they had was ferried off the farm by police vehicles and they were dumped on the roadside of river farm.

These displaced families are surviving on wild fruits and sleeping in the open for nearly two weeks now. I am trying to understand why a mother and a woman would do that to other women and children? Principalities in Africa manifest in strange ways. This is an abhorrent violation of human rights.

We must all thank Mugabe for revealing our true African character; that the idea of rule of law is not part of who we are, and that
constitutionalism is a concept far ahead of us as a people.

How else are we to explain the thousands of people who flock to stadiums to clap hands for a president who has violated their
country's constitution? Such people have no idea of constitutionalism.

Now that we have reclaimed our place as another African country, we must reflect on and come to terms with our real character, and imagine
what our future portends.

In a typical African country, ordinary people don't expect much of politicians, because people get tired of repeated empty promises.

In a typical African country, people have no illusions about the unity of morality and governance. People know that those who have power have
it for themselves and their friends and families.

The idea that the state is an instrument for people's development is a Western concept, and has been copied by pockets of Asian countries.

Africans and their leaders don't like to copy from the West. They are happy to remain African, and do things "the African way".

The African way is rule by kings, chiefs and indunas in a setting of unwritten rules. Is there anyone who has seen a book of African
customary laws?

The idea that a commoner can raise questions about public money spent on the residence of a king is not African.

Asking a ruler to be accountable is a foreign - Western - idea. In a situation where there is conflict between a ruler and laws, Africans
simply change the laws to protect the ruler. This is why no single white person has called for King Dalindyebo to be released from jail.

The problem with clever blacks is that they think they live in Europe,where ideas of democracy have been refined over centuries.

What we need to do is to come back to reality, and accept that ours is a typical African country. Such a return to reality will give us a
fairly good idea of what Zimbabwe's future might look like.

This country will not look like Denmark. It might look like Nigeria, where anti-corruption crusaders are an oddity.

Being an African country, ours will not look like Germany. Zimbabwe  looks like Kenya, where tribalism drives politics.

People must not entertain the illusion that a day is coming when Zimbabwe  will look like the US.  What will become of our future when
one ruler is more powerful than the rest of the population. Even if  someone else were to become president, it would still be the same, if we do not change our mindsets.

The idea that a president can resign simply because a court of law has delivered an adverse judgment is Western. Only the Prime Minister of
Iceland does that; African rulers will never do that. The idea of an African president resigning because he is too ill to rule is for Doug Ferguson former president of Canada.

Analysed carefully, the notion of Zimbabwe coming to an "end" is an expression of a Western value system - of accountability, political morality, reason, and so on.

You are the change you have been waiting for

You are the change you have been waiting for.

Make a difference. One of the most powerful quotes that I have kept inside of that treasure chest near my heart is from Mahatma Gandhi. "Be the change you want to see in the world". Let that sit with you for minute. I use to be that man blaming the world and the people in it for everything that went wrong. I was literally out of control, paying no attention to the true difference and change I could make by being in control of my thoughts, habits and behaviors. Remember that thoughts shape our habits and the habits shape our behaviors. Behaviors become who you are and what you do. This determines the change you want or don't want. It's up to you Champion.

Stop trying to wait for people to change. Stop trying to wait for the fear to run away from you. Stop trying to get that lucky break. Stop trying to wait for problems to disappear. Every moment, you have the power and undiscovered abilities to create your own changes by changing how you approach every scenario. The most powerful tool you will ever have is your ability to "choose". There is no other creature on this ever changing planet that has your kind of freedom. Freedom to live as you want, but to get that you have to be the change. No excuses. Get to it and work on changing your situation daily! Believe in the Champion in You!