I’ve spent so much time trying to please others that I’ve lost sight of who I am. — This thought crashes into me like a wave, pulling me under. For years, I’ve bent over backwards to be what others wanted. I’ve worn masks, played roles, and twisted myself into knots to make everyone else happy. In the process, I’ve forgotten what it means to make myself happy.
‘Who am I?’ The question is a knife in my gut. I don’t know. I’ve lived so long for others that I’ve lost touch with my own wants, my own needs. I’ve become a stranger to myself, a ghost haunting someone else’s life.
pleasing others, losing ourselves in the process.
Every decision I made, every word I spoke, was shaped by the fear of letting others down. I said yes when I meant no, smiled when I wanted to cry, and blended in when I wanted to stand out. I was so terrified of being seen as selfish or unkind that I forgot how to be true to myself.
The people around me see a version of me that’s not real. They see the agreeable, easygoing person who never causes trouble. They see someone who is always there for them, always willing to put their needs first. But they don’t see the real me, the me who is buried under layers of pretense and self-denial.
‘I don’t even know what I like anymore,’ I realize, and it hits me like a punch. My interests, my passions, my preferences – they’ve all been swallowed by what others wanted from me. I’ve been so focused on making everyone else happy that I’ve neglected my own happiness. Now, I feel a deep emptiness where my sense of self should be.
The weight of it is crushing, and the tears come hard and fast. I cry for the lost time, for the parts of myself that I’ve given away, for the years I’ve spent living a lie. I cry for the dreams I’ve abandoned, the passions I’ve ignored, the pieces of me that have been left to wither.
But as the tears fall, something else rises within me: a fierce resolve. ‘I have to find myself again,’ I think. I have to learn to say no, to set boundaries, to put myself first. I need to peel away the layers of who I pretended to be and rediscover who I really am.
It won’t be easy. There will be moments of doubt, of guilt, of fear. But I know it’s a journey I have to take. I’ve spent too long living someone else’s life. It’s time to reclaim my identity, to become the person I was always meant to be.
This is my chance to start over, to build a life that’s mine. I may have lost sight of who I am, but I’m determined to find myself again. And this time, I won’t let anyone else dictate who that person should be.
“I’ve spent so much time trying to please others that I’ve lost sight of who I am.” But now, I’m ready to please myself. I’m ready to discover my own worth, my own voice, my own path. And that, more than anything, fills me with a peace I’ve been searching for all along.
