This post might not please some people.

    One of the most common teachings from pretty good people is advice to not be a people pleaser.  It is especially frequent for people to remind everyone to only try to please God.  But God told us to serve people, and most of all to love people, and I think when both of these important commands really are priorities and really are being accomplished, then part of it often involves truly wanting to please people as much and as thoroughly as possible.  And usually, if you really love or even like people, you do care about what they think of you and want them to like you back.  If you don't, then you might just be using them to make yourself seem like a charitable person, which I think is close to the opposite of what God wants from us. People will be quick to say that reciprocal love is not the kind of love God was talking about, but some of those people are probably being defensive because the rejection they experience is from complete failure to be even a decent regular human being.