“Pulling Out Your Own Thorn” (Palestinian–Jordanian dialect proverb) There was a young woman named Mais who started a small home-based business selling homemade desserts. In the beginning, whenever she faced a problem, she would immediately call one of her friends. Sometimes she needed someone to answer customer messages. Other times she needed someone to deliver orders. Or someone to organize her business page. Her friends were happy to help once or twice, but eventually everyone had their own jobs and responsibilities. One day, Mais received a large birthday cake order. The friend who usually helped her apologized because she was traveling. Mais panicked and almost canceled the order. Her father noticed she looked worried and asked, “Why are you giving up?” She replied, “No one is willing to help me.” Her father smiled and said, “Try relying on yourself. You might surprise yourself.” Mais hesitated for a moment. Then she organized her schedule, made a plan, and prepared every order step by step. She worked incredibly hard, but she completed the entire order on time. The customer was delighted and later placed another order with her. When everything was finished, her father smiled and said, “That’s it… the one who pulls out their own thorn makes life easier for themselves.” At that moment, Mais realized she was much stronger than she had thought, and that relying on herself was often the best solution. Meaning of the proverb “Pulling out your own thorn” is said about someone who relies on themselves, solves their own problems, and doesn’t wait for others to do everything for them. The proverb encourages people to take responsibility for themselves, face challenges with confidence, and handle their own affairs whenever they can instead of depending on others.