"I'M FINE"

''How are you?"

One of the most popular innocent questions of our century.

A very unintentional inquiry, hops out like the flashes from a welder's iron in contact with a new work surface.

It is more like a spinal reflex-like withdrawal of a finger from the source of a shock stimulus.

"how are you?'

A question with a surface meaning that starkly contracts it's deep meaning.

Interestingly, society has for it, an antidote- a similarly, spinal, prepared, defensive, single but multifaceted response

"I'M FINE."

One of the most complex, simple sentence of our century!

The one statement that obeys sternly the ecological rule of adaptation!

A statement designed to shield it's bearers from further disguised in the shallow intents of the 'how are you' by spontaneously diverting the attention and offering an expected response.

So what if the unusual happens and 'how are you' does not meet 'I am fine' at home. Instead the door is opened by;

I'm hungry, frustrated, bored, angry, tired, anxious..."

What next do you say- "Pele?" (SORRY)

Oh yeah, you were caught unawares, you never experedit

Beneath the blooming faces, beneath the stereotypical answers our age demand, underling those smiles are pages of the book of life's experiences you cannot judge by the cover you see.

It is a fast moving world, perhaps we need to slow down a little bit.

Numerous are the heavy hearts masked by temporary smiles, countless are the hurting toes masqueraded by shinning shoes.

When next you ask a "how are you?"

Will you be ready to spare some extra minutes of your busy schedule to cheer a sad soul? or a kind enough heart to let go of some money?

Or a bended knee and whispering lips to say a few words of prayer?

If we all make intentional efforts to mend a broken heart we can mend a broken world