Ebb and Flow

When someone asks you "How are you?" do you answer honestly or are you always "fine"? I met a lovely woman today who answered honestly and gave us both an opportunity to make a difference in each other's day. 

It takes courage to say "meh?" in response to "how are you" because we're not conditioned to care if someone says something other than "fine." I heard her conundrum in her struggle to understand why she isn't always HAPPY! So I asked her what makes her laugh and she told me a story about a child with a smile on her face. And I asked her what the best part of her day has been and she thought about it for a moment and said: "I'm alive." How powerful! For that moment she experienced more than "meh." And my gift was seeing the transformation in her perspective. Because of her honesty and my curiosity, we were both able to find gratitude for a brief yet powerful connection.

Human emotions ebb and flow and unfortunately, we have a propensity toward a negativity bias. And it's completely normal! To find our way back to positivity, all we need to do is look within ourselves. We don't need to know why we feel unsatisfied when life seems to be only "fine," we just have to accept that that's our reality FOR NOW. Once we recognize it, we can ask ourselves what's going well or what we're grateful for or talk to someone that cares or move our bodies (which will release energy giving hormones).

So, if you read this, Tanya, thank you for your transparency and allowing me the pleasure of seeing you smile!

Aloha!

---