Self-Help Contusions

I have read my share of motivational 'how-to' books for success and business. Books by Donald Trump, Lance Armstrong, Robert Kiyosaki, and Russell Simmons. Books by people who have succeeded in their field and, through either a strong sense of philanthropy or the allure of a book deal, have transcribed their methods and thoughts to the page. I am currently reading the precariously hip-hop titled book by Russell Simmons right now branded as 'Do You'. He parlays the idea that in order to be successful, one needs to be true to who they are, and be honest with themselves.

As I leaf through the introspective pages of a hip-hop and entrepreneurial mogul, I strive to to find ways to 'Do Me', or at least find a way to become successful enough so that others might want to. One of the lessons I happened upon early in this book is the idea of projection. For instance, if you see the world as a happy and exciting place, then the world will be a happy and exciting place. The converse is also true. If you see the world as cruel and unfair, the projection will manifest itself. In another light, Simmons is stating that the world is a self-fulfillng prophecy.

Usually I would roll right on through that idea with only a hint of skepticism, but overall acknowledgement, but it so happens that I am reading another book right now as well, 'Catch-22', by Joseph Heller. The completely ridiculous and genius novel that was influential enough to plant the phrase forever into the American vernacular.

So now as I read Simmons words, I can't help but torture myself with the catch-22 of the situation. If the way you see the world is dependent upon the outlook you assign to it, AND if you admit that an outlook, in general, is defined as 'the way you see it', we seem to have run into an issue here. The cause is the effect, and the effect isn't caused by the cause itself, but by the effect. It's like trying to have a battery charge itself by connecting the terminals. It's like the plotline of Terminator. It's like infinity plus one. Crap. I think I just burst a blood vessel in my eye.

Now my outlook on life just seems confused, frustrated, and clouded by a corneal contusion.