05/08/2024
Like many of us, the seeds of my people-pleasing were planted early.
As a child, I was praised for being easygoing, adaptable, always willing to go with the flow. "What a good girl," they would say. The echoes of those subtle affirmations became my guiding star – if I could just make everyone else happy, then perhaps I would, at last, be worthy.
In my early adult life came the toxic marriage, a suffocating vortex where my desperation to be loved amplified every people-pleasing habit.
Every word, every action, became a calculated dance, a frantic attempt to prove my worth. The more I twisted myself into something I was not, the further I drifted from the truth of my soul.
And yet, even after leaving that corrosive environment, I discovered that the patterns of the people-pleaser had become ingrained.
Unconsciously, I slipped back into familiar habits, trading my own truth for fleeting moments of validation in new situations, with new faces.
The cycle continued, and the weight of unspoken expectations grew heavier with each passing day.
