Popularity. Don’t think so. Not everyone wants to be popular. My grandmother, she is approaching her 80’s and she does not want to be popular.
Recognition. Don’t think so. Hundreds of thousands of people are perfectly okay without any recognition and they do not want themselves to be “Recognized”
Wealth/Power Certainly not. There are a lot of people who have a lot of wealth but they never show off.
However, there is one thing which everyone wants to show others.
That little thing is completely imaginary and everyone has their own definition of that thing. People spend their entire life in pursuit of that thing and at any given instance of time, everyone is trying his/her best to reach to that thing.
Epicurus, the great Greek Philosopher once said
When we have found it, we have found everything; but, when we have not, we’ll do everything to find it.
You know what that thing is? The Pursuit of Happiness.
Every single person wants to be happy and express to the world how happy and content he/she is. No matter a mendicant or a millionaire, both have the same goal – Be Happy and show the world how Happy you are.
You want to prove to yourself that you are happy
At the same time, you want to validate it with the reaction of the world.
The Millionaire is using Wealth to reach Happiness, the mendicant is ignoring Wealth to reach happiness. None of them succeed.
Happiness is the only thing that no one has, yet everyone wants to show off.
There is a slok in Bhagwad Gita which says
sukha dukhe samay kritva labha labhou jaya jayou
tatho yuddhaya yujyasva naivam papam avapsyasi
This means Having an equal mind in happiness-sorrow; gain-loss; victory-defeat; engage in battle and thereby you will not incur sin.