People Pleaser
I’m starting to realize something about myself that I was
never really aware of before.
I’m a people pleaser.
I’ve always been a “people person”. I love being around people, spending time,
helping out, having fun, whatever…
I’ve also always tried really hard to be a nice person. I get true pleasure out of doing something
nice for others, and that part of being a people person I’m comfortable
with. I like that part of myself.
But this is something else.
This isn’t so much about being nice as it is about being…well, for lack
of a better word…a pushover.
Let me explain.
I am the sort of person that is blessed with a lot of
friends. I have always had a lot of
friends, though; as time would progress I would realize most of them were more
like “fair-weather friends” or even acquaintances than real friends. However, I find that I am consistently
surrounded by people I consider friends, and for that, I am blessed.
Due to my large number of friends, I have a very active
social life, when I choose to take advantage of it. (When I’m not hibernating
and hiding out…but this is a story for another post).
However, what I’ve begun to realize is that my social life
is very one sided. What I mean by this
is, as long as I’m willing to do what my friends want to do, my social calendar
is filled. As long as I work my schedule
to meet their availability, my plans to meet their interests, my fun to meet
their requirements.
Because I am an easy going person, because I happen to have
many interests, and be open to trying and enjoying new things, this works out
well. I have little trouble having fun
pretty much anywhere, as long as the company is good, and I’m in the right
mood. All is well.
That is, until, I want to do something that revolves around
my interests instead, or fits into my schedule instead.
Suddenly I am hard pressed to find someone willing to go to
that concert I want so badly to attend, even though I’ve trekked out to
numerous country music shows (not my favorite).
I didn’t make it to a single Boston Celtics game this past season
because I couldn’t convince a single friend to go with me, even if I succumbed
to mind numbing hockey game after game for them…(again, not my favorite). I didn’t make it to an actual beach, with an
actual ocean, once all of last summer, even though I was always agreeable for a
jaunt to the lake or the mountains…(which was always fun, but I love the
ocean).
We won’t even discuss the numerous Friday and Saturday
nights I spend at home alone, because if I don’t pick up the phone to call and
make plans…my phone doesn’t ring on its own.
I should stop here and make it clear that I am not bemoaning
my life. I am not knocking my friends or
even blaming them. I don’t believe they
do any of this on purpose, and with any intention to hurt or snide me, to
ignore my interests…
Simply…I’ve enable this behavior in everyone around me,
because I am a people pleaser. I go out
of my way to make sure everyone around me is having a good time, doing what
they want to do, living their best life.
To a fault. Forgetting, at times,
that what I WANT matters as well. Part
of this is a fear that if I speak up, if I fight for what I want, I’ll end up
with either my ideas or even with myself being rejected…but the alternative
pretty much looks the same, doesn’t it?
As I started to realize this recently, I started to evaluate
my friendships over time, and I’ve come to the conclusion that it has always
been this way. And not only that, but I
carry this behavior into my romantic relationships as well. Is it any wonder then, that I, eventually,
feel frustrated, unloved, and like I am not an important part of these
relationships? That I feel I disappear
and am no longer a participant? That I
withdraw, and the relationships fail?
So, now I see the problem.
Tell me friends…how do I go about finding the solution? How do I learn to still be a good friend, but
stop being such a people pleaser all the time?
How do I learn to speak up for my own interests at 36 years old? Because I have a feeling this is yet another
of the things I need to master before I can fully be ready for a partnership
with my future husband (whoever he may be)…
Working on myself has been a lifelong process, but more so
in recent years…finding my faults, and learning to use them for betterment…this
is just another one…instead of taking this realization and turning it into a
“woe is me, nobody wants to do what I want to do” moping session…I need to use
it to find my footing and push off from here…
So…how exactly do I do that??
