WHY BEING "OKAY" IS KILLING OUR CONNECTION

image generated using Gemini AI

I often like saying how I feel about everything, holding it to myself sometimes makes me feel depressed, and in the end gives me anxiety. One will wonder why a person who is not okay always tries to come out as being fine. Is it the nature of our society that makes this a norm in our society? When a person is asked how are you? The answer is usually fine, this is so because it has replaced the usual hello, where the other person is not expecting a heavy reply.

Nobody wants to express how they are feeling, too proud to look weak or maybe not wanting to burden the next person with their personal issues. Not everybody is strong enough emotionally to handle some of these things, and sooner or later, many of them will become broken. Sometimes, People who find the need to always appear fine are already broken and are usually the ones who need to speak out the most.

While the human race has become more connected than ever with the help of social media, there is pressure to maintain the "I'm fine" state. This is usually referred to as toxic positivity or the Mask of Strength. People like this are often triggered by little things, things that wouldn't make a normal person upset on a normal day, usually get them upset, because they bottle up their emotions, sometimes the emotions become too much for the bottle and end up exploding. Some of these people are used to being like this, and they find it normal.

The society has mistaken silence with strength; we are encouraged to stay calm in every situation, sharing nothing about our pain, they say, is strength, which is wrong. While some find it a burden to discuss their emotions with others, they are so empathetic that they feel putting this burden on others is going to be a lot for the other person to handle. Sometimes these individuals value their relationship to the extent of suffering silently rather than risking exhausting their friends.

I encourage everyone to speak out, as speaking out is a strength and not a weakness. A lot of people are not okay. Don't let social media deceive us with happy pictures and videos; it is sharing that makes the world a better place to live in. Man was built not to be independent of others but to be dependent on one another. It is often said that a problem shared is a problem half solved. There is this relief that one gets whenever they can speak out.

By appearing fine, the message we pass to people around us is that we don't need support, which creates a lonely path for us. We find ourselves surrounded by people, yet feel unseen by them.

My name is Hive account@rishagamo, and above is my submission for the Sci-Fi Multiverse prompt Week 66 Edition 2 “|| THE HIDDEN COST OF PRETENDING TO BE OKAY|”