When I heard that rapper 50 Cent had a book coming out, I wasn’t really planning to read it. Don’t get me wrong – I love High All The Time and I’ve heard 50 interviewed and he was impressive
But this piece on the Huffington Post is an excerpt from his book and NOW I want to read it. The book is called The 50th Law and the law is – fear nothing. Check this bit out…
You came into this life with the only real possessions that ever matter — your body, the time that you have to live, your energy, the thoughts and ideas unique to you, and your autonomy. But over the years you tend to give all of this away. You spend years working for others — they own you during that period. You get needlessly caught up in people’s games and battles, wasting energy and time that you will never get back. You come to respect your own ideas less and less, listening to experts, conforming to conventional opinions. Without realizing it you squander your independence, everything that makes you a creative individual.
Before it is too late, you must reassess your entire concept of ownership. It is not about possessing things or money or titles. You can have all of that in abundance but if you are someone who still looks to others for help and guidance, if you depend on your money or resources, then you will eventually lose what you have when people let you down, adversity strikes, or you reach for some foolish scheme out of impatience. True ownership can only come from within. It comes from a disdain for anything or anybody that impinges upon your mobility, from a confidence in your own decisions, and from the use of your time in constant pursuit of education and improvement.
It’s downloading to my Kindle right now.
This is an awesome observation, one that many liberal government dependents would realize, especially the discontented over at bobcesca.com. Every day they sit and wait.
50 sounds like a really smart guy and obviously he’s packed with talent. I have to disagree with his take on life in general though - at least as far as this excerpt goes. “But over the years you tend to give all of this away. You spend years working for others — they own you during that period.” It’s when I am serving others that I feel most fulfilled. Maybe it’s just a difference in perspective. I never feel owned. I choose what I give out to others. I know who I am and I know what I’m doing - investing in people pays big dividends. Squander everything that makes me a creative individual? Only when I look at others as “stealers”. On the contrary. Maximizing is the word that comes to mind. It’s never their action - it’s always my reaction that counts.