And most importantly, he said if I accepted responsibility for my wrongdoings and if I embraced that part of my soul that was ugly — “hugging the cactus” he calls it — he said that if I “hugged the cactus” long enough, I’d become a man of some humility and that my life would take on a new meaning. Working through despair can actually be an important part of connecting with authentic hope; however, it is also important not to stay in hopelessness too long as hope is an essential part of the cactus hugging journey. All of this is the result of the cactus hugging journey: going from a place of self-imposed crisis, to embracing the ugly parts of one’s soul, to overtime integrating these parts into a fuller, more holistic sense of self.