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The Dark Truth About Being a People Pleaser You Can’t Ignore
Why pleasing everyone is secretly destroying you.
The other day, I heard a joke by John Mulaney who said,
“Over the last few years, I’ve done a lot of work on myself, and I’ve realized that I’ll be fine as long as I have…constant attention.”
It’s funny because it’s true.
Many of us are addicted to that constant attention and, in return, are willing to give up anything, even our dignity.
The addiction to attention and the signs we ignore
I thought about this yesterday as my mother was talking to a neighbor. I couldn’t help but overhear the conversation. (Yes, I’m very nosy; that’s why I think I’m a writer :-)
Apparently, the neighbor’s daughter was at home, sunk in a depression — She has lost about 40 pounds— after breaking up with her partner (another girl). So far, so typical.
But the interesting thing is that the mother had warned her daughter for a year that something was wrong.
The daughter, however, seemed blind to the signs.