People-Pleaser

Photo by Randy Tarampi on Unsplash

Dear People-pleaser,
I am pleased to meet you.

I know you'll always see to it that you make someone smile rather than cry,

I know that you make it a duty to save and salvage the souls of those who seem lost,

I know that you will readily place yourself in a dangerous position than to see someone else hurt,

I know you have a heavy burden to eliminate tears from every eye and to place smiles on every face,

I know you don't judge others because of where they've been.

My sweet People-pleaser,

I know you're not ignorant of those that use you.

You are fully aware that life doesn't give you what you deserve, yet you hold on, giving out the best of you.

Because you know;

You know that the world would be a whole lot better with less resentment,

You know that the lives of others can be changed by just a little bit of kindness,

You know that a life can be saved with just a touch of forgiveness,

You know that a soul can be redeemed with just a little bit of trust,

You know that with a pinch of faith, humanity can be regained,

You know that with hope, there's a reason to wake up.

You know because you've shed a million tears,

You know because you've been hurt,

You know because you've been torn apart but you pulled yourself together,

You know because you've seen souls lost,

You know because you've lived in despair,

You know because you've been judged,

You know because you've been there.

Lovely People-pleaser,

I know this because I see you.

I know this because I am you.

Love, Ballie💖

Thank you for reading. ✨I have been thinking really hard about the principle of repurposing content for about four months now. And I thought ‘What better way to start than by sharing my first work that got published in print’? People-Pleaser is a two-sided letter, first written in 2015–2016, then shared in public in 2017 for the first time, and subsequently published in the JETS Magazine in the same year.

Have you ever struggled with people-pleasing? How did you get out of it? Do we really ever? Or do we just choose better people to please? Let me know your thoughts while we wait for People-User to drop (the second part of the letter). You know where I’ll be. Please don’t forget to clap (50x) to make this post more visible especially to those who might need it. You can also subscribe to be the first to get updates about my writing on Medium, via email.

Also, Merry New Year. Welcome to 2024. May we thrive, may we be bold, may we shine as the light we have been called to be.