Our worth is not in our actions, it’s in our being. And it’s not in us being a certain way—in a certain form, shape, sound, embodiment—but just in our very being itself.
We collapse worth with qualities and characteristics. With our level of success, with the size of our bank account, with the amount of friends we have, with our social status, with the beauty of our partner. Or with our charm, wit, intelligence, humour, kindness, humanity.
Regardless of where we are in life, this is one of the most difficult insights to integrate. People who are very successful often associate their worth with their success. They are afraid to ease off, to stop pushing the boundaries, to stop outperforming because they fear that their value will collapse.
People who are on the other end of this dynamic, homeless, loveless, broke don’t consider themselves valuable because of their circumstances—because they, too, see the lack of success, love, status, money as lack of worth.
But real worth is inherent. It’s always there and it never changes in the course of our life, regardless of who we are, what we do, what our circumstances might be. It’s not contingent on the presence of something nor on the absence of anything else. It’s formless and shapeless.
We integrate this insight not by realising who we are, but by realising who we are not. As we peel back the layers of limiting narratives we’ve associated ourselves with, we reveal and remain with our true essence.