Compromising and peace-keeping ultimately weren't as comforting or satisfying as I had imagined they would be. I had a hard time getting my needs met and felt alienated because it seemed as if the people in my life didn't know me that well. I was always hiding who I really was, censoring myself. 

It takes a lot out of you to continually be conforming to what other people want from you (or what you think they want), to be trying so hard to not offend or bother anyone. For starters, you can't read other people's minds and even if they tell you, there is just no way to ever be completely certain that you are doing the "right" thing for them.  They might not even know what that would be anyway. 

You can bend over backwards, stand on your head, contort yourself in any number of ways trying to accommodate others, and people will still get annoyed and say that you got it wrong.

© Salahub 2003