Hugging the Cactus

“And he said that if I hugged the cactus long enough, I’d become a man of some humility.”

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This is an extract of a speech by Robert Downing Jr.?

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He was talking about a low time in his life. When he didn’t get work. Damaged his relationships. Struggled with addiction. And his mentor, Mel Gibson gave him this advice:

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“And he said that if I hugged the cactus long enough, I’d become a man of some humility.”

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There are three things here:

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A cactus

A hug

A man of some humility.

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The Cactus:

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When I heard this phrase, the image that came up for me was acknowledging the prickly, unpleasant, not-so-great parts of ourselves.?

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You know how we sometimes react in a situations and afterwards you think “Yikes, that was not great.”

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?? Like being impatient with people because you’re pressured and have a lot on your plate.

?? Being over-critical and judgmental of others, forgetting that we also make mistakes.

?? Continuously over-complain, forgetting that our lives are actually freaking fantastic.

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Cactus behaviour.?

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The Hug:

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This is about having empathy for yourself, because you’re also just a human being. And sometimes we react in ways that are not great.

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Become a man of humility:

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When we're honest about the situations where we should’ve behaved better, we stay humble.

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Friend, we’re great but not perfect. So, let’s hug the cactus ?? and have empathy for ourselves when we mess up. And the humility to say: “That was not great, I’m sorry.”

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I think our world needs this.

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Jeanette ??