People Pleasers Anonymous

Think about all of the people you meet in a week, month, year, and lifetime. The grim reality is that not everyone is going to like you. Some might even dislike you. And guess what - it's okay. It's okay if you make a friend angry. It's okay if you disappoint your parents from time to time. It's okay if you make a poor first impression. I lived in fear of not being liked for as long as I can remember and to be perfectly honest, I was exhausted. All. The. Time. The thought of leaving a room and having people make fun of me, or the fear of rejection, controlled my life.

Do you ever feel like you have to play a version of yourself, a version that you don't necessarily like? It wears on you.Now that I am fully honest with myself, perhaps the most honest I have been in my entire life, I am beginning to open up to close friends and family in a way that feels both terrifying and liberating. In the past, my attempts to open up have been met with flightiness and disregard, but my efforts to exfoliate my life and focus my attention on the quality of my relationships have proven to be essential.

I will be the first to tell you it is easy to lose your own unique voice when you let other people overpower you in fear of "not being likable." Racing around trying to be everything for everybody is not sustainable and even has the potential to be detrimental. I don't know who needs to hear this rant, but remember that nobody who is secure in themselves says something mean-spirited about somebody else. If you are afraid that people will talk sh*t about you behind your back - they are not your people. Point blank. So to all my fellow people pleasers, shake off the negativity, embrace your inner awkwardness, and use that voice.