I'm Fine, Thanks.

I hear that answer a lot when I ask how people are. When I ask again, I here it repeated or insisted upon. It may be true sometimes, but in a number of cases, I know it isn't.

We went out to dinner at IHOP after our young adults service. One topic of discussion was what some of the people were going through and one guy, who always seems happy, shared how he often wasn't. He then said, "It's funny: some of the people who seem the happiest are those who struggle the most with it, because they have no one to really ask them how they are doing."

It's true. We solve problems if we can and tend to ignore what isn't broken. With machines or animals, there are obvious clues that they aren't right, but with humans, many of us try to hide what's going on. There are several reasons for it, but I think most of us want to let someone in on what we're going through on some level.

Challenge for the week (yes, I know it's been a while since the last one and I'm not going to promise it will become something I try to do weekly again): Find someone who seems pretty happy overall and ask them how they're doing. Do this with someone you know reasonably well and not a complete stranger, but ask what's going on and don't be thrown off by the first answer or two you get back. Get to know what is really going on in their lives. Be there for someone who usually doesn't have someone there for them because they seem fine most of the time.