It's Okay Not To Be Okay

How are you doing? No. Honestly, how are you?

People rarely ask the second part of that sentence when they speak to friends, colleagues or even family members. We have all been conditioned to hear or read the response 'I'm okay'. I get it, no one wants to let people know they are suffering, but hey, if the year 2020 so far is anything to go by, we should all know by now that we're all suffering in one way or another.

People are experiencing loses in so many ways all around us, from losing loved ones to the COVID-19 Pandemic to job loses and to the murder of African-Americans / Black people across America. We have all had an intense first half of the year and if you are not okay, please know that you are not alone.

You don't have to 'be fine','get over it' or 'let it go'. You really can admit that you're not okay. It's okay not to be okay. Tears don't mean you're losing, everybody is bruising... Sorry I got carried away with the song, shout out to Jessie J.

I want everyone to know that our feelings are valid. Every last one of them. Forget society's unrealistic expectations about how you should be feeling right now. We really are all in this together and we can get through it together if we just make the conscious effort to check in on one another.

If you're not okay, don't worry. You will get there eventually. It's a process that you have to be patient with. and just like the famous adage goes:

"Rome was not built in a day".

You just gotta have faith.

However, if you're okay, truly okay, I want you to reach out to that friend / family member of yours that you believe is just as okay. They might just need your help. Let us lift each other up.

PS: Look after yourself.

If you're reading this after 2020 is over, look we made it!!!