Russell Simmons & The Key To Life

I recently watched a video of Russell Simmons responding to a 10-year-old’s question to a panel he was sitting on.  The young lady said she was tired of seeing and hearing negative videos on TV and hearing inappropriate music/lyrics on the radio.  She continued that she wanted to see and hear more positive music and wanted to know how long she had to wait for this to happen?

Surprisingly, Simmons, the Godfather of Hip Hop, apparently not wanting to bash rappers and having been through this drill before, said he was going to pass the question to someone else, but ended up giving a very thoughtful response.

His response:  You have to do it yourself; you have to do the things that you want to see.  The world is what you see . . . violent . . . or positive.   You have to do it . . . giving is all there is.  Everything in this world is a manifestation of what you give this world.  It is what you give the world that you get back [or see] from the world.

There’s a redemptive power that making a choice has, rather than feeling like you’re an effect to all the things that are happening . . . make a choice . . . you just decide what it’s going to be, who you’re going to be, how you’re going to do it . . . from that point, the universe is going to get out your way . . . it’s water, it wants to move and go around stuff . . . you really can make what you want.  I can create whatever I want to create . . . if I can put my head on it right, study it, learn the patterns . . . I feel strongly that we are who we choose to be . . . I will not be outworked.

My interpretation of Simmons’s comments are that to be happy, successful, and supportive of others in life you have to be a “player” – not a fan sitting in the stands of life.  Don’t feel helpless, be helpful.  You have to decide who you want to be, how you want the world to be, and how you want to live your life.  Don’t hope for change, “be” the change by doing something to make things better for everyone, and your experience, your life, will be positive.

Please write down and reread the aforementioned statement – carry it around with you all day if you need to – every time you feel helpless about changing the world or changing your life.

You are truly a creator, not an effect.