By: Shawnna Grace, contributing intern (@shawnnagracee_) “If your number one goal is to make sure that everyone likes and approves of you, then you risk sacrificing your uniqueness, and, therefore, your excellence.” ~Unknown We all know that one people pleaser and maybe that person is you, but maybe it is not. Odds are though that you can relate in someway to having the desire to be well liked. I mean come on! Who doesn’t love the feeling of being respected and appreciated? For a long time my need to be liked overshadowed my true self, and the qualities that make me who I am. It took me awhile to realize this, but believe it or not, it’s okay that people do not always like me or agree with what I believe in or who I am. When you’re comfortable with not being liked by everyone it allows the true you to shine through for the world to see. Being yourself and not worrying about being liked gives you the ability to say no, and disagree with people. Being okay with being disliked prepares you for the greater things in life. There is not one actress/actor, athlete, or musician that receives all positive comments. The higher you rise, the more of people’s attention you are going to receive, positive and negative. The best reason to be okay with being disliked, is that you can chose to smile. You could use your energy to make daily inventories of everything that’s been going so wrong in your life—the money you don’t have, the esteem you didn’t earn, the people you disappointed. Or you could commit to being your best, and then just sit back and smile. A major step to living a positive life is accepting that not everyone is going to like you. Being who you are is so much more rewarding than being liked by everyone. Stop trying to be liked by everyone and start trying to be YOU.
