I've never had kids, but I can only imagine how much I'd feel like I always had something I needed to be doing if I did. It is easy to come up with things we "should" do when responsible for another life, particularly when there are so many things they actually need us to do. Yet for everyone, it is fundamentally a mentality. We either see ourselves as intrinsically enough, or we see ourselves as given value by what we do or acquire. In the former case, we still may do a lot, but it comes from a place of satisfaction. In the latter case, no matter what we do we always feel insecure.

Thanks for such a stimulating post to respond to.