"Your life is what it is today because of what you chose to believe. If you believe it's easier said than done... then guess what?! So shall it be! And after all, who am I to convince you otherwise?!" So many people have fallen victim to their dire situations because they took life for what it is and not for what it ought to be. Wait, I am not in anyway implying that you don't face realities of life. What I am implying is that you see those tough/painful/sorrowful realities of life on a brighter side of things that allows you to have hope for a better tomorrow instead of accepting that your life is a matter of pain, hurt, failures and sorrows all because that's what you have known, experienced and lived by for as long as you can remember.

My friend, I can take you to the most powerful motivational speaker ever in the history of mankind, but for as long as you haven't decided that you want to be great, successful and wealthy, that motivation will fall on deaf ears like seeds that land on the rocks and not in the soil. You need to decide what you want to make out of your life and then you must go out there and make it happen. Don't ever allow any prevailing undesirable circumstances to influence or hold you back from deciding that you deserve better and greater things in life.

Let me tell you about two kinds of people in life; there are people who are always complaining/whining, they're quick to find reasons why something isn't working or why it won't work; they're also quick to blame circumstances and other people for their lack of progress in life; they console themselves with mediocrity in life, all in the name of "What can I do?" But how can you ask that when there are countless people out there who were born out of excruciating poverty but today are millionaires and filthy rich? These are the second type of people; they don't have, neither did they have, the best of anything or everything in life BUT they made a conscious decision not to let anything prevent them from being what they wanted to be. They learned that life is what you make out to be; that your destiny or future is in your hands and that you decide your fate with every decision or choice you make every day. These people are quick to find solutions. They spend more time finding solutions/answers instead of wasting their energy whining, for they know that complaining has never made anyone happy nor put bread on someone's table.

I have seen a rich kid born out of wealth amount to nothing but a drug addict and an alcoholic. Yet I have also seen a poor kid who used to walk to school barefoot graduate at the university. I have seen someone who got hurt so much that they refused to open their heart to anyone nor love or trust anyone not to hurt them. Yet I have also seen someone put back together the pieces of their broken heart... mend it... dare to love again and become happy again for eternity. In my lifetime I have seen the divorce rate sky rocket so much that couples get divorced within 3 months of the marriage. Yet I have also seen couples stick together through thin and thick and make the decision to make their marriage work out; to fix what's broken instead of replacing it. I have seen people give up on their dreams after one failure. Yet I have also seen a man fail 100 times BUT get back up every time he failed.

In all the above situations, one thing for sure is clear; LIFE IS WHAT YOU MAKE IT OUT TO BE!! You alone have the power to make out of life anything and everything you desire! Don't let them tell you that you can't, nor let your circumstances make you believe that you can't rise above them and conquer the world!!

Today being a CHOOSEDAY... I triple dare you to always remember in every situation in life, that LIFE IS WHAT YOU MAKE IT OUT TO BE! Finish and klaar!

Happy CHOOSEDAY. Make the right choice!

Fannie Zim is a practicing and Admitted Attorney of the High Court of South Africa.