I’ve talked with a number of people recently who, in various ways, are feeling “insignificant.”  One friend, for instance, feels reluctant to put the novel he’s written out there, because so much has already been written and his work would probably “get lost in the shuffle.”  Others just suffer from a general feeling of unimportance—“how can I really make a difference,” they think, “when there are six billion people in the world and the universe is so massive?”

Many of us fall into the trap of assuming that, if we just do or have the right things, we’ll overcome this feeling of insignificance.  We just need the right career, family, bank account, recognition from others, or something else, and then we’ll know in our bones that we’ve really “made our mark.”  Unfortunately, no matter what we accomplish, it seems like that sense that we’re finally important enough never arrives.

A New Perspective

If you can relate to what I’ve said, I want to offer you a perspective on this issue that you may not have heard before.  I’ve come to believe that we get this feeling of insignificance, not because we haven’t accomplished enough in our lives or become famous, but because we don’t understand our true nature as human beings.

We’re used to thinking of ourselves as isolated fragments of the universe.  I’m nothing more than this body, we tend to believe, and my situation and what I think and feel have no effect whatsoever on other people.  With this way of seeing reality, it’s no wonder we tend to feel like we “don’t matter,” and that the universe is dizzyingly, threateningly huge.

We can move toward the perspective I’m talking about by noticing a fact that may seem obvious, but that we aren’t usually conscious of.  Each of us has something in common with everything else in the universe:  we exist.  To put it another way, every rock, tree, car, person, and so on is made of an omnipresent substance we might call existence, is-ness, or Being.  Despite these objects’ different appearances, at the deepest level they all consist of the same stuff.

Waves on the Ocean

Spiritual teachers often illustrate the idea that everything is made up of Being with this example.  People use gold to make many different things—from jewelry to tooth fillings to watches.  If we took a gold ring and a gold filling and melted them both down, it would be easy to see that they’re made of the same substance—gold.  But if we were to look at a gold ring and filling side by side, we probably wouldn’t notice what they have in common—we’d see them as separate objects that have nothing to do with each other.

In the same way, when we look at two people, what we normally focus on is their differences—their different heights, ages, life experiences and so on.  What we don’t usually notice is that they have something basic in common—they both exist, or are made out of Being.  What’s more, because the entire universe is made of Being, the apparent separation between those people isn’t real.  Instead, each of them is more like a cell in the vast organism of the universe.

What’s more, quantum physics actually supports this idea.  Suppose we put two human beings side by side.  Looking at them with the naked eye, it would seem obvious where one person ended and the other began.  “Oh, there’s Dave, and to his right is Joe,” we’d say without hesitating.

But if we looked at Dave and Joe on the subatomic level—on the level of the tiny particles that make up the atoms of their bodies—the boundary between them wouldn’t be clear at all.  We’d see nothing but a bunch of protons, electrons, and so on—or, to put it in “spiritual talk,” all we’d see would be a swirling mass of Being.

Put Your Attention Back on Being

When we feel small and unimportant, I think, it’s because we’re losing sight of the Being we share with others—just as we tend to forget that both the ring and the filling are made of gold.  Although you and I look separate on the outside, on a deeper level we’re parts of the same whole, just as each wave on the ocean is part of the same body of water.  Because, in an important sense, you are the universe, creation, or existence, it makes no sense to see yourself as insignificant.  Nothing is “larger than” or “more important” than you, because you are everything.

When we really understand this—not just intellectually, but as a deeply felt experience in our bodies—many of the anxieties and hangups we tend to suffer from fade away.  This is why, whenever you find yourself worrying about whether you “really matter,” putting your attention on the Being you share with everything and everyone is a wonderful way to ease your mind.

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1. Thoughts On Conscious Suffering
2. To Feel Inspired, Focus On What You’re Contributing
3. Thoughts On “Authentic Marketing”
4. Sample From The Work Consciously Audio Course
5. Thoughts On The Ideal Workplace, Part 1