Yesterday was R U OK? Day all over Australia. The day when we’re encouraged to take the time to ask someone if they’re OK, and then truly listen to their response. These conversations can be life-changing, even life-saving.
It got me thinking. How many times in a day does someone ask, “how are you?” And how many times each day do you respond with “good” or “busy”? Or do you avoid the question by saying what you’ve been doing, rather than how you’re doing? It’s as if we’re on auto-pilot and as a result, we’re missing out on opportunities to have engaging conversations every single day. Life would be so much more interesting if we told each other what’s really going on. What we’re excited about, stressing over, looking forward to or grateful for.
How am I right now? I’m mildly stressed, because I have an over-sized list of things to get done. But, more than that, I’m excited. One of my best friends arrives in town today, the sun is shining, people like you are making Spring a great success and I have an awesome weekend ahead of me. ”Good” or “busy” just can’t capture how I really am.
So why not take a friend out for a coffee and ask them how they are. They probably won’t play the game (because they don’t know what the game is), but you can surprise them with your response when they ask how you are. You might get the opportunity to help them if they’re struggling or comfort them if they’re down. At the very least, you’ll get a quick catch up, and that’d make anyone happy.
