This is a story of the cows and rhinos, developed by Scott Alexander. Here is my adapted version of it....There once was a herd of cows out in this cow pasture. And of course there was grass and manure all over the place. But out in the middle of this herd of cows was a rhino, and he was totally out of place. Six thousand pounds of muscle; and thick armor of skin, with this big horn sticking out of his head. And the rhino wanted to leave the cow pasture and go to the promise land. Off into the distance you can see the promise land. But to get to the promise land you must first go through the jungle. The jungle is filled with thorns, quicksand and hunters; but the rhino has that 6 inch thick skin.
Contrary to the better judgment of the cows, and some of these seem to be very learned cows; the rhino leaves the cow pasture. And wouldn’t you know it... there’s adversity, hunters shooting at him, quicksand etc. Eventually the rhino meets up with some other rhinos and they say to him we’ll help you get through the jungle. There will still be some adversity but we’ll show you where the quicksand is and you don’t have to walk into the arrows, right? It’ll still be a bit of a struggle but we’ll help you to make it a nicer ride.
Eventually our rhino friend makes it through the jungle and to the promise land. What does our rhino do? Jumps back into the jungle. Why? To help the other fledgling rhinos get through the jungle. And then one day when as our rhino is relaxing, laying in his mud hole, he notices other rhinos coming out of the jungle. One by one they’re coming out of the jungle and he asks where are these rhinos coming from? And in a moment of clarity he realizes it must be the cow pasture. These rhinos weren't actually cows it’s just that they had been conned into believing they were cows. So convincingly that they even looked like cows, and even smelled like cows.
We’re all rhinos. We were born risk takers; all this self imposed limitations, is all just a story. What stops people from getting started in any worthy endeavor? The simple answer is fear. Fear of failure, fear of making a mistake, fear of success (worthiness). But the biggest and most persistent enemy of productive action is fear of criticism! People don't commit to taking action because they fear criticism. Criticism from their friends, family and neighbors. The driving force behind most people's decision making is: wanting to look good, and avoiding looking bad. This is a very fear-based way to live. Seeking approval from ignorant well-meaning people has crippled more potential greatness than anything I've witnessed......I heard a very learned man once say, "Don't worry about what your neighbours think, they probably don't."
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To Your Rhino Within,
Cristy Willis
