I see you watching me, and I can see your gears turning as you evaluate me. Your subtle hints, I take as revision notes, critiques, and I get to work. Let me be more like you. Let me mimic what you do. You’ll never notice me disappear into a knock-off you, even as I mourn the loss of myself, deem the whole thing twisted and unfair.

That’s what people-pleasing can do to me. The thing is, I’m pretty sure you don’t really notice what I do with me, how like you I would have myself be, but I do. Copying you means smashing my feet into glass slippers that don’t fit, an endeavor sure to end in failure.

Hope comes in realizing there’s a Prince with a glass slipper fitted just for me. He invites me to be the me He created to love.

I am created to be loved, not to be you.

And you? You’re created to be loved as you, too.

P.S. This isn’t an official Chosen and Approved post, but I did write it in honor of that series, which started Tuesday and can be found here, and in honor of the 31 Days of 5 Minute Free Writes, which you can learn more about here. Links to all of my 31 Days free writes are here.