The Single Woman’s Dash of Sass: When You Try to Please Everyone – You Please No One

Quote of the Day:

“One of the big lessons I have learned from my journey is you can’t please everyone, so don’t try.” ~Chris Colfer

The Single Woman Says:

Last night I was watching the Oscars and live tweeting my opinions from my personal Twitter page – something I love to do for the really big awards shows – when all hell broke loose. I innocently tweeted that I thought Angelina Jolie looked beautiful and how her look was perfection…and within two minutes, I had a stream of negative and even attacking retorts, telling me how wrong I was, how I shouldn’t be “preaching” to women about loving themselves if I thought Angelina was beautiful, and even accusing me of “idolizing” Angelina. It was sheer madness. I expressed an opinion that some people didn’t agree with, and instead of simply stating that they disagreed with me, they tried to shame me, guilt me, and even ram their opinions down my throat. I was and still am baffled. When did we become a society that viciously turns on someone because they happen to share a different opinion than us? Where is the freedom of speech? More importantly, where is the LOVE?

At the end of the day, the only thing I can do is continue to be REAL and honest and transparent, both on Twitter and in life. You may not like it. You might have a different opinion from me. You might think I’m stupid, or wrong, or too outspoken. I respect your opinion to differ from mine, but I won’t change mine simply to match yours. I won’t sugarcoat myself, my opinions, or my message to make it more tolerable for people to digest. And I won’t ground myself to keep from ruffling your feathers.  To do so would be a disservice to you, and also to myself.

The key lesson I take from all of this is, as Chris Colfer says in the quote above, you can’t please everyone. I would encourage you to stop trying. When you try to please everyone, you please no one, including yourself. Be who you are…nothing more, nothing less…and the right people will be attracted to your authenticity. Have an opinion and stick to it – don’t adjust your sails to match every breeze. You’ll never get to your destination that way.