It’s okay to not be okay….

 

A few years ago, I walked into my work like any other day.  I sat down at my desk, scrolled through my emails, and began the monotony of another day.  After a little while, I had to visit a coworker.  This coworker was someone who I had only ever said hello to in passing, and the normal smile as we walked by. 

 

On this day I walked into her office and said hello and then mentioned some paperwork.  As we talked avout the paperwork, her face looked sad, her eyes looked tired, and her mind somewhere else.  As we got past the normal “Good mornings” I looked at her and simply said…

 

Are you ok?

 

She paused for a moment, and instead of taking the easy road, like the majority of the population, she said 

 

“No”

 

And she broke down

 

Here she was, this woman old enough to be my mother, an experienced professional, opening up to a 20 some odd old kid.  She was worried about her daughter, who was her life and soul.  Her daughter was going off to chase some boy and wasn’t listening to her mother at all.  She opened up to me and tried to come up with a reason, she tried to understand.  

 

I explained to her that not all kids listen to their parents, and in hindsight, she will probably look back and realize her mother was right.

 

The average person would have said yes and went on along their day, trying not to burden a someone else, or to just take the easy way out.  But she wasn’t ok.

 

It is okay to not be okay. We all have our ups and downs, and those good times and the bad.  We all have our demons, our secrets our everything.  It is one thing to sit there and say we are fine.  But in the end, you are just lying to yourself.  Look in the mirror and realize that if you are not okay, its okay. 

 

No one is perfect, no one is immune from sadness, no one is immune from the treacherous trail we scale and navigate through life.  

 

It’s okay, to not be okay.