In this episode, we sit with Verse Three from the Tao Te Ching and explore what happens when we overestimate greatness, overvalue possessions, and inherit desires that were never really ours.

This verse can sound harsh at first, emptying minds, weakening ambition, creating confusion. But beneath the surface, it points to something deeply practical:

How much of our striving comes from comparison?

How much of what we want has been shaped by what we see others wanting?

We reflect on:

Why putting others on a pedestal can quietly make us feel smaller
How social media and career comparison distort our sense of “enough”
The difference between ego-driven ambition and steady inner resolve
What it means to “empty the mind and fill the core”
How confusion can sometimes be the beginning of real clarity

This conversation isn’t about rejecting success or suppressing desire. It’s about gently questioning where our desires came from and whether they still belong to us.

Verse Three invites us to step out of borrowed races and return to something steadier.

Not what impresses.
Not what competes.
Not what looks good from the outside.

But what feels true from the inside.

“You can have resolve without ambition.
You can be committed without being competitive.”

Where in your life are you measuring yourself against someone else’s highlight reel?
What desire might not actually be yours?
What would “enough” feel like — not look like?

If this episode resonated with you, consider sitting with the verse for a few days instead of moving on quickly. Let it work on you.

Until next time… may your mind be empty, and your core be full. ☕

Not Praising the Worthy | Verse 3 | Tao Te Ching