Stone13

Written by cycleguy on July 28th, 2015

WOULD ALL THE PEOPLE PLEASERS STEP RIGHT UP!!!

Yeah, you know who you are. You are me. Well, you are what I used to always be (and can sometimes still fall into that trap). I’m trying desperately to stay out of that trap for good.

Let’s face it: every one of us wants to be liked. No one wants to feel rejection. Not even “the Donald.” Being rejected by our peers or someone we desire acceptance from hurts deeply. So, in order to avoid that rejection, we do what we can to please others. And please understand, there is nothing wrong with that. We don’t want to be a “Biff Tannen” in our relationships with others.

But we can get to the point of craving that acceptance. We can get to the point of doing-things-over for the purpose of pleasing someone. We can even backtrack on plans just because not everyone is okay with them. There comes a point where we stop pleasing and start living our lives as we see fit. Shoot, if we lived for the okay from everyone, we will never get anything done. EVER!

You have probably heard it before but it bears repeating: you will never please all the people all the time. Someone else beat me to the punch: “The sure way to failure is trying to please everyone.”

Our ultimate “line in the sand” is we are only needing to please ONE person. It comes down to doing and being for an Audience of ONE. His acceptance is all that really matters.  So…how are you doing?

This is one of my random posts on this book:

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22 Comments so far ↓

  1. Linda Stoll says:

    Playing to an audience of One. Yes. Wouldn’t much of our self-induced stress flee if that’s how we lived our lives?

    Good stuff, Bill

  2. Not terrible but not good.

  3. Daniel says:

    It is a fine line sometimes between trying to please people and just being a jerk.

  4. Jeff says:

    you almost had me agreeing until the last line. The nice part about pleasing him is that everyone gets to decide for themselves what that means. You can’t miss on that deal. I thought you were going to say “yourself” which is kinda the same thing.

    • cycleguy says:

      Well, not so much. We can be kind of fickle at times, even selfish. But I was excited you almost agreed with me. LOL

      • Jeff says:

        I think we came close. You are saying we have to please our Jesus. There are many denominations with many ways to please their Jesus. I think most Jesus pleasers can find a way to please themselves and their Jesus.

  5. floyd says:

    Agreed. Even the rebels are looking for something and some form of acceptance in who they are. The older I get the easier it is becoming for me to see that there is no peace or joy in pleasing anybody but our Father first.

  6. Deb Wolf says:

    Amen! I am a recovering people pleaser myself. I’ve learned that it’s too easy to miss God’s will for me when I’m focused on people pleasing. Yes, I want to be kind and if I’m liked . . . well, that’s nice too. But it is no longer my goal. Talk about freedom and focus. I wish I’d learned this lesson years ago.

  7. Ben Nelson says:

    Guilty as charged. Thanks for the push in the right direction.

  8. Betty Draper says:

    Good one Bill…I struggle less and less with this issue as I have aged. And care more and more about pleasing Him.

    • cycleguy says:

      Thanks Betty. I’d like to believe it is something else besides age making me less concerned but the jury is out. 🙂

  9. Like Deb, I was addicted to people pleasing for years. What a waste of time and energy! And you’re so right, Bill – God is the only One we should worry about pleasing.
    Blessings!

    • cycleguy says:

      I spent way too many years in the same boat Martha. It was a terrible waste of time and energy and movement forward (it didn’t happen).

  10. Hi Bill,

    Always a needed reminder for us, huh? I like the line in Galatians (?) that says, “are you now trying to please men or God?”

    Have a great week,
    Jennifer Dougan
    http://www.jenniferdougan.com

  11. Ed says:

    I find it somewhat curious that we are expected to be people pleasers, yet by the same token, it’s not reciprocated.