Hey, Young World, the World Isn’t Good or Bad
In 1989, as a youth, I attended lyricist LL Cool J’s Nitro World Tour, which featured rapper Eazy-E, his group N.W.A, rapper Slick Rick, legendary group De La Soul, and though he was scheduled to perform, rapper Too $hort was unable to attend the Denver, Colorado concert.
One of the songs I most looked forward to hearing by Slick Rick was “Hey Young World”, from his debut studio album The Great Adventures of Slick Rick (1988). I envisioned that the track was directed to the youth of my generation, as the rapper addressed his younger audience.
Specifically, Slick Rick stated on the song, “Hey, young world, the world is yours!” I drew inspiration from that line. As the ‘80s were wild, it seemed like the rapper recognized the challenges faced by younger people who were simply trying to figure out how to live properly.
Thus, when thereafter living in a children’s home in 1991, I sought to mentor younger kids. That’s when I began the unofficial practice of life coaching. At 14-years-old, I adopted a “hey, young world” approach to trying to help other children figure out how to live (literally).
Having more or less been institutionalized during that period of my life, it wasn’t uncommon for the children with whom I lived to experience suicidal ideation. While I can’t attest to how they behaved after having had contact with me, no kids killed themselves when in contact with me.
Of course, that was back when I knew very little about care for mental, emotional, and behavioral health (collectively “mental health”). Moralistically, I tended to label events as good (of a favorable character or tendency) or bad (failing to reach an acceptable standard).
As an example, because other children with whom I lived were abused, as was I, I thusly concluded that the world (the earthly state of human existence) was bad. It wasn’t until mid-adulthood that I realized the unhelpful nature of that sort of personal script.
As Rational Emotive Behavior Therapy (REBT) was formed by the late psychologist Albert Ellis, who reportedly developed the first cognitive behavior therapy (CBT) psychotherapeutic modality in 1955, this blog entry is part of an ongoing series regarding his book, Ask Albert Ellis?: Straight Answers and Sound Advice from America’s Best-Known Psychologist.
Regarding my once-used unhelpful script, REBT utilizes unconditional acceptance (UA) to relieve self-induced suffering. This is accomplished through use of unconditional self-acceptance (USA), unconditional other-acceptance (UOA), and unconditional life-acceptance (ULA).
With my approach to REBT, I incorporate author Stephen Covey’s concepts regarding the circles of control, influence, and concern, as well as an area of no concern. UA maps onto the circle of control (USA), circle of influence (UOA), and circle of concern and area of no concern (ULA).
The circle of control encompasses only oneself, the circle of influence encapsulates elements which may be subject to one’s sway, the circle of concern engrosses most matters one can imagine, and the area of no concern relates to all content which isn’t yet imagined.
Rather than determining that the world was good or bad, as was the case in my youth and young adulthood, I eventually learned to practice UA. Regarding this helpful perspective shift, Ellis stated (page 18):
The world in which you live has “good” events that aid your and your social community’s goals and purposes; and it has “bad” events that interfere with these purposes. But it, the world itself, is not seen as being globally “good” or “bad,” although it has many happenings, events, and problems that you may view as “okay [i.e., acceptable – even if not considered good],” or “not okay,” or as somewhere in between.
Hey, young world, the world isn’t good or bad. Rather, it has some okay moments, some not okay instances, and a lot of in between okay and not okay occasions. In my estimation, using a UA approach to mental health, acknowledging and accepting this fact is how to live properly.
If you’re looking for a provider who tries to work to help understand how thinking impacts physical, mental, emotional, and behavioral elements of your life—helping you to sharpen your critical thinking skills, I invite you to reach out today by using the contact widget on my website.
As the world’s foremost hip hop-influenced REBT psychotherapist, I’m pleased to try to help people with an assortment of issues from anger (hostility, rage, and aggression) to relational issues, adjustment matters, trauma experience, justice involvement, attention-deficit hyperactivity disorder, anxiety and depression, and other mood or personality-related matters.
At Hollings Therapy, LLC, serving all of Texas, I aim to treat clients with dignity and respect while offering a multi-lensed approach to the practice of psychotherapy and life coaching. My mission includes: Prioritizing the cognitive and emotive needs of clients, an overall reduction in client suffering, and supporting sustainable growth for the clients I serve. Rather than simply trying to help you to feel better, I want to try to help you get better!
Deric Hollings, LPC, LCSW
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