People Pleaser

By bethanngormong, March 22, 2021

If you try to please all, you please none.

Aesop

40 Things to Give Up for a Better Life

#27 Being All Things to All People

Are you a people pleaser like me?

I’m a recovering people pleaser.

Time has taught me that I can’t please everyone. When I try, I fail.

For instance, this morning I was reading a book for my book club. But I couldn’t concentrate and found I was rereading the same paragraph over and over. Every time I looked up I saw the row of library books I longed to read and lost my place. And sitting next to the book I was trying to read was a paperback that promised to help me “say exactly what I meant with precision and power.” I should have been reading it to improve my writing skills. I found that no matter what I read, I couldn’t comprehend the words because another book was always calling.

So I put down the book and picked up my journal. But then I thought I should read my Bible. No I needed to write a devotional for Guideposts. And the dishes were piling up in the sink.

Behind all these To Do items, was a friend, employer, mentor, cat, dog, husband or my conscience wishing I would do what he/she felt was important.

Finally, I took out my planner, wrote down the long list of jobs, prioritized and highlighted the most important. And at the end of the day, some items still weren’t finished, and some of people weren’t going to get what they hoped, and I have to be okay with that because I can’t be all things to all people.

I need to stop trying.