How to Learn Self-Esteem from Nature

This spring has been absolutely gorgeous. We’ve gotten a lot of rain here in Colorado this past month; the spring flowers have come and gone and now everything is completely lush and green. This is somewhat unusual for Colorado as it is typically very dry, so whenever I’m out in nature it feels like everything is soaking up the rain and growing and bright and green - it feels magical.
 
A couple weeks ago, I was on a hike in the rain. It was wet and the kind of quiet that only exists in nature. I felt so in love with the moment and so grateful for the beauty of that morning. Here are some photos I took on my hike that day: 

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​While on the hike, the inspiration for this post came to me. I took a few minutes to sit on a rock, a bit off of the path. I hadn’t sit quietly in some time, and it was like the quiet was calling to me. I sat and listened to the sound of the rain and the birds and the leaves. I sat and looked at the trees and the grasses and the dirt and the rocks. Everything was still, yet dynamic and alive. Everything was in harmony and in peace. Everything was perfect, just as it was. And as I sat and looked and listened, the lesson came in strong, loud, and clear: there is nothing to change; there is nothing wrong; I am perfect and magical and amazingly alive just as I am. 
 
As I looked around I realized, the flowers do not wonder if they are doing a good job at being a flower. The trees do not compare themselves to their fellow trees and wonder if they are a good enough tree. They just ARE. They are simply being! So simple, so powerful.
 
It is valuable to notice that even though nature is not competing or criticizing itself to push itself to be better, each plant still strives to fulfill its fullest potential. Every plant sets their roots as deep as possible, reaches their leaves as far up to the sun as it can, and blooms their beautiful flowers right alongside their neighbors. Trees or flowers are not "unmotivated" or "lazy" despite the lack of struggle and comparison. Nature does not diminish its own individual power, beauty, or ambition. What I learn from this is we do not have to compare, put ourselves down, or struggle in pain in order to be the best, highest version of ourselves. Like the flowers and trees, we can learn to let go of comparison and self-doubt and simply set down our roots to grow into our own unique self.
 
This is how we can learn true self-esteem from nature. True self-esteem comes from a deep, embodied understanding that there is nothing that we have to do, change, or accomplish in order to be okay. Our worthiness is not conditional – it does not depend on whether or not we look, act, or do anything a certain way. Rather, there is an inherent worthiness just in the fact that you are a human being. That’s it! Just the fact that you are imbued with life, that you are here living on this earth – that alone is invaluable. Precious. One of a kind. Irreplacable. Sacred. Vital.
 
I want to end this post with one of my favorite quotes from Eckhart Tolle:
“Look at a tree, a flower, a plant. Let your awareness rest upon it. How still they are, how deeply rooted in Being. Allow nature to teach you stillness.” 

From my heart to yours,
Dani