How often does a person stop to appreciate their carpet, their kitchen tile, their doormat? I’m afraid it isn’t very often at all.

Things that are made to walk on are rarely a part of our everyday thoughts. A doormat, is and always be a doormat, and a doormat is meant to be taken for granted.

People on the other hand, are meant to be loved and appreciated, it is a basic human need. Yet so many people feel that being a human doormat is the true path to love and acceptance. Somewhere along the way, they got the idea that need and love are the same thing.

So often in our culture need and love are represented as being one and the same, a myth perpetuated by a culture of romance novels and love songs.

Need and love are in fact two different things, we can love someone without necessarily needing them, and we can most certainly need someone without loving them.

Being a doormat might make someone need us, but do they really want us? Sure we are really handy to have around, we take on all the the stress, worry, and responsibility. They might even come to believe they can’t live without us, but at what price?

Being a doormat becomes exhausting after awhile, always finding new ways to get your own needs met by meeting the needs of others or pushing them aside altogether. Instead of just simply asking someone to love us, we are always trying to find a way to earn that love.

Love was never meant to be earned, it was meant to be given as a gift with nothing expected in return. As soon as it becomes an exchange, the word love no longer applies. If they take their love away from you, even for a moment your whole world begins to crumble.

Nobody has to remain a doormat forever, there is hope for even the worst people pleasers in the world.

For tips on overcoming the dreaded doormat disease read on at Squidoo>>>