Follow Your Passions

In high school I had an AP English instructor who challenged us on a regular basis to develop a deeper understanding of the things we are exposed to in life. He’d play songs by Simon and Garfunkel or Bob Dylan, hand out the lyrics, and we’d spend days sometimes discussing what the meaning of it all was.

I am not sure how it was brought up, but one day he started talking about people being honest. He suggested that when our acquaintances pass us in the hall or on the sidewalk and ask how we are doing, they are often just doing it as a courtesy and would rather not actually hear the story about how you are feeling inside. And we know this, so we often respond with “Fine” even though fine may be far from the most accurate word do describe our current state.

My instructor challenged us to spend one entire day being completely honest in every conversation. If someone asks you how you are, tell them the truth, and if you don’t genuinely care how they are doing, don’t ask! I started living my life this way, convinced that the point I should take away from the challenge was that I should be brutally honest and just not ask people how they are if I don’t care to hear the answer.

But over time, I have developed something much more important than that as a result of this little experiment. I am not at all convinced this was the original intent of the challenge, but it dawned on me that maybe instead of not asking how people I don’t care about were doing, I ought to focus on caring about ALL of my fellow man, at least enough to care to know their general well being.

Now, when I ask how people are doing, I want them to respond honestly rather than just saying “fine” or “I’m good, how are you?” Unless of course that’s how they truly feel.

So tomorrow when you go about your daily business, take time to ask the people around you how they are doing, and when they tell you the truth, embrace it. Further, when someone asks you how you are doing, tell them the truth. Even if you are feeling “fine”, try to use a more descriptive word. Some of my personal favorites are “awesome”, “groovy”, “inspired”, and “excellent”.