I think the message that Cornell is delivering here,
is that of one who was being taken for granted not seen fully for who he is, but seen as something less. When in truth he knew he was much more then what he was seen as. But I think in order for him to show that person[s] that he was much more he put millions of miles under his heels and even though he knew he would be okay without that person[s] making him feel less of himself he still felt close to them because they are what got him there to state that he was something much more then what they knew.