08/26/2026
I won’t abandon myself to earn anyone’s love. The right people will love and respect the real me. ♥️
I’ve become increasingly aware of the ways I have people-pleased throughout my life.
For a long time, I believed that keeping others happy, avoiding conflict, making myself smaller, and putting other people’s feelings ahead of my own were ways of being loving and kind, but I’m beginning to understand that people-pleasing wasn’t simply a “bad habit.” It was a protective response. At some point, my nervous system learned that maintaining connection, keeping the peace, and being who others needed me to be helped me feel safe.
I have so much compassion for the version of me who learned to survive that way.
Awareness is now giving me the opportunity to choose differently.
I can love others without abandoning myself.
I can be compassionate without accepting mistreatment.
I can consider someone else’s feelings while remembering that mine matter too.
I can set a boundary and still be a loving person.
I can allow someone to be disappointed without making their disappointment mean that I have done something wrong.
Nervous system regulation has been an important part of this journey. As I develop a greater sense of safety within myself, I no longer have to automatically reach for pleasing, fixing, explaining, or smoothing everything over to preserve connection.
I am learning to pause, listen inwardly, and ask:
“What is true for me?”
“What do I need?”
“Am I including myself in this equation?”
This isn’t about loving others less. It is about finally learning to love myself too.
And perhaps that is one of the deepest forms of healing: realizing that the real me does not need to perform, shrink, overgive, or abandon herself to be worthy of love.
The people who are truly meant for me will not require me to leave myself behind in order to belong. ♥️ ❤️