A common, deep-seated struggle many of us face is the fear that we and our lives might not matter.

Feelings of insignificance are often made worse by comparing ourselves. In a world where success is measured against others, it’s easy to feel inadequate. Societal and cultural expectations also play a role. Cultures that emphasize achievement can make us feel immense pressure to prove our worth.

We are bound in an endless struggle to prove ourselves that we are good, beautiful, rich, skilled, smart or helpful enough.

It is a conditional thinking (only if…) based on dualism (good vs. bad, success vs. failure, rich vs. poor, powerful vs. powerless etc.) that is unending.

In each and every moment we have to prove our worthiness, purposefulness and significance, again and again. We will never be enough as long as we hold on to a hierarchical system that is linked to performance and power. And as long as we look for our acknowledgment outside of us. Status, power, success, wealth are like surrogates for our need of feeling seen, understood, and accepted which they can never fulfill.

The struggle is like the ego shadow-boxing with a ghost. But it is not a laughing matter as a lot of the big problems in the world are fueled by people’s deep-seated need to feel important and relevant.

In politics, many chase power and it may lead to decisions that serve the politicians’ own ambitions and aggrandizement rather than the public good.

Wars often happen because leaders and nations want to assert their dominance and significance. They might go to war to prove their power, claim territory, or promote their ideology. This drive leads to devastating conflicts that cause immense suffering and destruction that is based on this combative strive for significance.

The gap between the rich and the poor is also a clear example of how the quest for significance plays out on a material level. For some, amassing wealth is a way to prove their worth, resulting in the rich hoarding resources and opportunities, making the gap wider as one’s abundance comes at the cost of the many.

On a broader level, our collective struggle for significance can lead to a culture of consumerism, where people seek validation through material possessions. This not only harms the environment but also fosters competition and inequality. Then success is measured by what we own rather than community and shared values.

The treadmills of the system never stop.

Constant pressure will be part of our experience until we drop out of this dualistic and conditional way of evaluating.

Only when we become aware of our conditioned thinking in terms of high and low, when we break from the conditioned need to be superior, and recognize that all we long for is actually inside of us and available to us, we can finally drop out of the insane race for a golden carrot that will always be out of reach.

Only then, we can finally be.