Found this in my neighborhood and got thinking about the temptation to impress or please people.
When we say something calculated to get a certain reaction: that someone will like us or think we're smart or funny or cool or non-threatening. That is so much hiding and blending and it's exhausting.
A big part of that impulse to please (and hide) is fear and worry that you're not enough as you are. But I'm coming to realize how much of it is from a desire to control people. It's manipulation to say something calculated to get a certain reaction. That fear and manipulation go hand in hand, because if you can't trust that you're good enough as you are, independent of approval, you can't trust other people are strong enough to handle and accept you as you are, without your veil of compliments, jokes, and coolness. Let them be strong enough to see the real you, and let yourself be strong, too. Hold space for them to meet you eye to eye, let them surprise you with their reactions, rather than play into the scene you set.
This is something I'm working on, myself, and I'm so grateful the amazing Michelle Sinnette has helped me get insight into my people-pleasing patterns.
Good luck to you, fortune teller who made these postcards. Thanks for the lesson.