Day 24, Am I a People Pleaser?

I am on the 24th day and have definitely seen some changes for the better. Today, the assignment is to write about a character trait call People Pleaser. When I read that I thought, "that isn't me. If anything, I feel that I have grown away from that trait as I have gotten older." Then I starting to journal and what I realized is that perhaps I am a reformed people pleaser but that my pain is a throwback to when I was. Although I do not really consider myself a caretaker for all, anymore, I definitely do not like confrontation, so I think that when someone "graduates" from being a people pleaser, the new improved form may be "non confrontational." That term feels more adult to me and less threatening. It is easy to say that I am not a people pleaser anymore because my role has changed; my kids are grown and out of the house and I work for myself. Even that allows me to craft the world and manage confrontations or the lack of them more easily. So perhaps what I have strived to do, without realizing it, is to keep from engaging with many people and things just so I don't have to have confrontations and ultimately disappoint someone. Hmm. I guess there is more than one way to please people? Just thinking.

 

Hi, Livinginhope. Maybe down deep in your subconscious you are still a people-pleaser. I think we all are, those of us with TMS. We just can't seem to help wanting to be free of confrontations and be liked by others. The main thing is to like ourselves.