“Unlocking the Secrets of Selflessness: How ‘Happy to Help’ Challenges the True Cost of Being a People Pleaser”
Merriam-Webster defines a “people pleaser” as “a person who has an emotional need to please others often at the expense of his or her own needs or desires.” All Wilson wanted was to be accepted by her peers, but at what cost? No matter what, she would disappoint someone. But it turns out it was usually herself.
Wilson realized she was a people pleaser when she looked back upon her life, specifically knowing she was the eldest of her siblings. She was the one who helped take care of them and innately knew her role within the family. She declares, “I didn’t ask why being an oldest sister meant living a foregone conclusion. There was work to be done. It fell to me to do my fair share of it.”
