Be Like A National Park

I recently visited Glacier National Park, and I realized something while I was there.

I realized that we should all be more like a national park.

A national park like Glacier attracts millions of tourists every year. And for what?

For being beautiful. For being itself.

When people are there, it’s what it is. And when people aren’t there, guess what? It’s still what it is.

It doesn’t need the approval or permission of others in order for it to shine in its magnificent beauty.

If someone comes to a national park and says, “eh, could be better.” Do you think the national park cares?

Do you think the national park feels inclined to try harder to appeal to the tourist who didn’t like it?

Or if someone comes along and says, “oh my god, this is so beautiful!” Do you think the national park changes in anyway?

Or does it keep just being itself?

The national park doesn’t care whether you like it or dislike it; whether you’re there to see it or never see it in your life.

It is what it is: raw, authentic, and unapologetically itself.

And you know what else is raw, authentic, and unapologetically itself?

The stream in your back yard. Or the field blowing in the wind with no eyes to see it. Or the trees held firmly in the ground. Or the clouds just drifting and morphing through the sky.

I use the analogy of the national park because national parks are typically an awesome and spectacular view.

But here’s the thing: every single little bit of nature holds that same quality.

It is what it is and doesn’t need your validation or approval in order to do so.

So why do you wait for the permission and approval of others to shine?

Why are you dimming your light when someone judges you? Or not feeling good enough when someone doesn’t notice you?

Why not shine like the national park you are?

Why not express the radically authentic beauty that is your natural birthright?