We love the story of being self-made -- seeds that pushed through rocky soil by sheer will, needing no one. It's a myth that props up our worth: I did this alone, so I deserve to stand tall. But just beneath that story lies something more tender. Research shows we'll sometimes harm our own well-being just to keep those we see as "other" from getting ahead. We'd rather watch nothing grow than let someone else's sapling thrive.
The truth is that no one stands alone. We're deeply intertwined and could learn lessons about thriving from nature. In the forest, trees share nutrients through hidden roots, feeding neighbors, even warning each other of danger. No tree is diminished by the nourishment it receives - it grows taller, stronger, and offers shelter in turn. What if we saw ourselves that way? Not worthy because we managed without help, but because we're part of something vast and beautifully connected.
This episode is an invitation to rethink what it means to win - and to notice how our identities, fear, and fragile sense of self can keep us from embracing the shared soil that lets us all flourish. Maybe real growth begins when we stop proving we're self-made and start tending the forest we inhabit.
Joni Miller, Ph.D., is a writer, researcher, spiritual coach, and speaker who uses her knowledge, education, and love of all things spiritual to help spiritual wanderers find a place they can call home, navigating by the light of Love. www.SpiritualGeography.net
Photo by Yan Krukau: https://www.pexels.com/photo/back-view-of-a-woman-standing-beside-the-tree-5479965/
