The very nature of this question is designed to heal, create freedom, and take responsibility, thereby taking the power and setting ourselves up for positive, healthy lifestyle options. It’s as simple as asking, How are you?
Hi and welcome to my blog, this is the last Mental Monday of the year and effectively the decade. My biggest wish for 2020 is that we understand our health better and spread more love to everyone we come into contact with.
According to WHO health is a state of complete physical, mental and social well-being and not merely the absence of disease or infirmity.
When you get asked, How are you, recognise that you are being asked from a physical, mental and social wellbeing stand point. Now how you decide to answer that question is going to help determine whether you find solutions in all aspects of your health especially your mental health.
People ask how are you, more for formality than for actual care and so people respond with fine or good, more for formality than anything else. But usually we are not fine, or good or even okay. Most times we are hurting, we feel miserable, we feel alone, we feel lost.
Most times our tummies hurt and we don’t want to admit it because its embarrassing. We get splitting headaches but bite our tongue on how we feel because we must not be seen as weak. So how are you?
I only ask because acknowledging who you are and how you feel will turn the problem on its head. Dont believe me? Asking this simple question sets one upon a quest, a quest of self discovery.
How are you? Like how do you feel? Does anything hurt? Do you feel tired? Are you feeling sad? Do you need a hug? A friend? Are you hungry? Do you feel safe? Are you happy? Do you believe? Like how are you?
The question does not always bring about satisfactory answers but the question allows us to open our thoughts to what the solution could potentially be. Once we know the problem, we begin to arm ourselves with tools to help us find the answers.
As we seek healing, even now at the turning of a decade, we must be able to admit to ourselves who we are and where we stand. Even if the solution takes longer to arise for us, being able to be truthful about our stance changes alot of things and it even impacts the health greatly.
The mind is a powerful tool, so powerful in-fact that it can build all sorts of technology and heal the body by it’s own restorative prowess. Love yourself enough to be comfortable with all of lifes bruises, with all of lifes undue burden and pressure.
The reason how are you is such an underrated question, is simply because we have allowed words to not be attached to anything substantial. We think words are just for communication and if we don’t want to communicate then it’s fine. But words have power, books from the Bible to even more morden psychology ideas claim the power of words.
Some call it the secret others call it vibes but they all trace their roots upon a book written more than 2500 years ago. When I say speak It doesn’t mean everyone has to hear you, but you have to acknowledge where you are, who you are, and what you have because accurate answers only come from having identified the problem accurately.
How are you, might not be the question to start every thought going but if we can truthfully answer how we are to ourselves then we are half way into healing. Hopefully healing is the only the start to a healthy relationship with whom we are.
Ask yourself questions, different questions, same questions, strange questions, let who you are guide you into your life beyond just one moment but hopefully through all of them.
How are you? they ask
I’m a dazzling array of flawed personalities, I have big eyes and a weird habit to observe the world. I feel alive and confused all at once. I am a combination of unlearning my insecurities and being hard on myself. I lack patience but I try to practice it with everyone but myself. I am becoming, I am learning, I am attempting. To understand and answer who I am.
I hope as the year comes to an end and we break the threshold for a new decade you will brave the idea of discovering who we are everyday and in different situations and understanding how we feel and why we feel like that and mostly just falling into a deep love with ourselves.
A love that changes and reshapes for a life time. May this Mental Monday be a stepping stone for being who we are and accepting that regardless of where we are in the world may we be blessed this Monday.
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