THe Rhino Rule

"..we can learn from the rhino: CHARGE!"

There is a certain rule in life that I’ve found to be very important. It particularly applies if you’re confronted by a crisis in life. It’s called the “Rhino Rule.”

     The rhinocerus is the last of the antediluvian quadrupeds to carry a great weight of body armor. By all the rules of progressive design and the process of natural selection the rhino ought to have been eliminated. But it has not been yet! Why not?

     Because the rhino is single minded. When it perceives an object, it makes a decision- TO CHARGE!!!  And it puts everything it has into that charge. When the charge is over, the object is either flattened or has gone a long way into cover, whereupon the rhino instantly resumes browsing.

Few people think of learning from a rhino but we really can. The story of Moses in the Book of Exodus is an exposition on this approach, and also Joseph, and the Apostle Paul. 

     In the history of the United States we see time and time again how success was achieved through the concentrated pursuit of a clear and definite aim. The original settlers who arrived on the Mayflower observed this rule. They wanted the freedom to practice the religion of their choice, and to secure this, they disregarded wealth, comfort, and safety and charged toward their goal until it was achieved.

     They pressed toward the Declaration of Independence. This was the moment at which America adopted the RHINO RULE: A salient object was perceived, and everything was sacrificed for its attainment.

     Others such as George Washington, Abraham Lincoln and Winston Churchill lived by the RHINO RULE! We can choose to live quiet lives and get through them without achieving much. But if want to do the big thing, if we ever hope to leave a record that will be admired and remembered, we must learn to distinguish between the peripheral and the essential. Then, having clearly established our central objective, we must charge at it again and again until the goal is achieved. That’s what the rhinocerus does.  That one thing we can learn from the rhino: CHARGE!!!