How Are You?

This is probably the most common question people will receive when you meet anyone at anytime, yet it is the most weighted question we find ourselves answering. A normal response would be “I am fine.” But why ask when the answer is an automated generic response?

Lately, I’ve been through a whole lot, so when I hear those 3 words put forth to me, I’ll freeze, what does it really all mean? Maybe I should just say “I’m good.” when I’m not, for anything more than that would pressure the asking individual into caring, do they even want to care? If it is simply a conversation opener then how about replacing it with a “Hello.” or “The weather is great.” would suffice.

Being cornered into a question like that seems aggressive. It makes you seems like you care but you don’t, or maybe you really do but due to the question being so common people like me would not risk letting you care.
So what does it all really mean? It means we put up a front, like we always do, wearing a mask so that when we ask that we feel like we care and not some beast with a cold heart, and when we answer with a “I’m fine.” We hide our vulnerability, our shortcomings and our fall from grace.

With all that out of the way, how are you?