How to be ok when others feel hurt by us

My thoughts on how to handle hurting someone’s feelings without feeling guilty

Today, I want to talk to you about something many people-pleasers struggle with. It’s amongst the most asked questions I get on Instagram, so I know it’s an important topic to speak on. Not only that but personally, I also struggled with this one a lot, so it makes sense that others would, too. Today, I will talk about how to be ok when others feel hurt by us. Many of us who struggle with people-pleasing want to change. We want to set boundaries and show up more authentically, but the fear of causing someone hurt often holds us back and causes us tremendous guilt. We’re scared of what will happen when we upset someone and, therefore, won’t even dare to speak up. 

I thought about writing about this topic when I was on a walk with Teddy because I noticed I was ruminating about a recent situation where I felt tremendous guilt for sharing a hard truth with a friend

When I wrote this article, I took some time to reflect on this fear of hurting someone, and here are some of the triggers of my fear:

• “I’m scared someone will think badly of me.”

• “I’m worried about the next time I have to interact with them.”

• “I fear that I will be treated differently moving forward.”

• “I am uncomfortable making others uncomfortable.”

• “I’m scared they will love me less.”

• “I’m worried they will talk badly about me to others.”

• “I fear they won’t understand that it’s not against them.”

Can you relate? I invite you to take a moment as well and reflect on what comes to mind when you think about hurting someone’s feelings.