Cool, I don't have to worship any GOD or anything

I was surfing, bobbing up and down on the waves, when it occurred to me that the Buddha, is you. I don't mean that YOU are the Buddha, I don't mean that you're some enlightened being, or even that we all have Buddha in us. I mean it literally. The Buddha is you. You know that really great you, that person who's  genuinely happy for others, that person who responds to their worst enemy by saying "Oh, so sad, how can I help you?" That's the Buddha.
I wish there were another term for it than Buddha because Buddha sounds like there's one person you're supposed to be or there's some guy that we're all supposed to revere, but I really don't think that's it. I think Buddha is that person inside of us that is genuinely open and vulnerable and compassionate and at peace. And if that is true, then this practice makes sense to me. Because this practice is about seeing yourself, it's about stripping away all those defenses and stories and fears and preconceived notions that stack on top of that genuine person and keep it from existing in this world.
Also, it makes me very happy. I never wanted to be part of something that involved a hierarchy or an exclusionary practice. Every time someone talked about having an altar or bowing to Buddha or even embracing the Buddha way, I thought, "I'm not going to believe in something that says that one person is better than another or that you can only be a part of this if you follow these guidelines."
But if when people say "Buddha", they're referring to that person in me who is compassionate and beneficial to others; if bowing to "Buddha" means a commitment to coax that person out of me and encourage that person to be who I am most of the time, then I'm happy to bow to the really great me, to set up an altar to the really great me, to practice the Buddha/ really great me way.
Now, there are some caveats to this, the first one being that I've never studied Buddhism so honestly, I could be totally wrong.
Second, I'm sure there are people who would say that the Buddha is much bigger than just your "really great self," that you are still being Buddha when you are a jerk.
Finally, I'm sure that there are people who will say that Buddha really was a person and that we should act like him. But from the little that I've read about him, I'm pretty sure that his whole point was "It's not about me. If you're worshiping me, you've got it all wrong."
Who knows? For now, it works for me to have "Buddha" be that self inside of me whose natural inclination is to connect with and genuinely support others to feel at peace.