PROVE It: O = Open Yourself and Be More Adaptable

In the 1990’s animated television series “Pinky and the Brain,” a pair of lab mice plots every night to take over the world. Each plan is devised by Brain, the well-spoken, genetically superior mouse who has thought of everything. He puts aside every suggestion offered by his big-hearted but small-brained counterpart, Pinky. 

Despite his best efforts, Brain’s plan fails in each episode, and the world remains unconquered. In one episode, Brain’s idea fails rather quickly, and he decides on a whim to let Pinky take over the world domination plans for the night. Pinky’s idea is to start an oyster petting zoo, and despite the absurdity, Brain goes along with it and it actually
becomes far more successful than any of Brain’s plans. 

What is the point of this story?

Do you think that Brain thought that Pinky could actually come up with something successful before this experience? 

Do you sometimes tend to underestimate the capacity of others in favor of your own ideas? 

We often exaggerate the distance between our abilities and the abilities of others, just because we are more familiar with ours. More frequently than not, a hard search of our lives and a little letting go will reveal the same energy of capability among humanity, even if we do not act it out in the same ways or with the same outcome. A major component of humility is being able to step away and let somebody else take the reins, as well as to be open to trying something new. A classic example of pride comes from being too stubborn to do something differently than how you always did it before. Change can be scary, but what’s even scarier is not to change when it serves to your benefit. We usually find in these situations that the exaggerated distance we create in our minds between our abilities and the abilities of others isn’t so great after all. 

Part of being open to others, and a large part of humility, is learning not to pass judgment. Judgment puts us on a pedestal of pride that assumes to know everything going on in a person’s situation. By understanding that there is more out there than we can know, and that we are all fallible human beings, we can replace judgment with love and understanding. 

It’s important as you’re learning to be humble not to be judgmental of others, because they are human just like you. If anything, it will help motivate you to be more humble by knowing how if feels to be treated without it. Replace criticism with compassion as you interact with others, and this will help you grow toward humility as you put yourself in others’ shoes.