In February 2020, I took a road trip around the U.S. I met my friend Sam in New Mexico, and we decided to hike the Atalaya Mountain Trail. Around 8,000 feet we passed another hiker, a guy in his sixties decked out in hiking gear, standing in the middle of the trail. He waved his two poles in excitement when he saw us.

Annoyed: “Excuse us,” I said as we passed him, trying to avoid the poles. 

“You know what advice I give young people?” he shouted. “Cultivate your inner goodness! Cultivate it! It’s already there! Don’t let society take it away! Water doesn’t TRY to be wet. Can you imagine water TRYING to be wet? It would die if it tried! A deer doesn’t think ‘Once I go over here, I’ll be a deer.’ The ocean only has to know its own wetness. Cultivate!” 

He didn’t appear to be hiking up OR down. I think he was just standing there cultivating.

At the time, Sam and I had a good laugh about it, once we were clear of the guy’s waving poles. Now, though, I find myself almost in awe of his wisdom.

Water doesn’t try to be wet.

What if we stopped trying to be anything but ourselves, and instead, cultivated our inner goodness—our inner me-ness?

What if we owned all the parts of ourselves that make us who we are?

What if we pursue what’s in our hearts, without trying to change ourselves to be more lovable or more polished or more accepted

What would you do?