THE COST OF PLEASING PEOPLE

The Cost of Pleasing People.

Trying to please others is an expensive endeavor. You sacrifice your inner peace, squander your time, and risk losing yourself in the process. Once you dedicate yourself to fulfilling someone else’s expectations, stepping back often invites resentment, accusations of disloyalty, or even outright hostility.  

If you begin this journey, understand the terms: pleasing others demands servitude. You must be prepared to remain a servant indefinitely, for those who grow accustomed to your devotion rarely grant you freedom willingly. When you reclaim your time or energy, you’ll often be labeled ungrateful, dishonest, or unproductive even accused of rejecting "growth" they defined for you.  

 

If you aspire to sovereignty over your own life (to be a "king" of your destiny), be deliberate about where you pledge loyalty. Loyalty misplaced traps you. Extricating yourself becomes a battle against guilt, obligation, and others’ entitlement to your life.  

 

1.  Prioritize Yourself First: Fill your own cup. Secure your peace, time, and purpose.  

2.  Give Generously From Surplus: Only then offer others the gift of your energy as charity, not obligation.  

3.  Replace Pleasing with Respect: True respect sets boundaries. Pleasing breeds dependency. Respect allows you to advance freely; pleasing chains you to others' emotions.  

 

People become emotionally invested in those who please them. They conflate loyalty with lifelong ownership and may perceive your independence as betrayal. If threatened, they might attack your reputation, achievements, or well-being to maintain control. Their jealousy over shared loyalty reveals insecurity, not affection.  

Guard your peace fiercely. Choose respect for yourself and others over the exhausting, thankless pursuit of approval. Your time, purpose, and sanity are non-negotiable. Advance on your terms.

Until the moment when will shall dance in white Greater Grace.

Oyugbo Osagie Jonah