I’ll be alright!

There’s this man,

He owns a small shop down the street and when you walk in,

He’ll always ask how are you? with a smile.

I know this may be a formality but his tone of voice tells me otherwise.

I always tell him I’m alright and ask back the same.

I hate that such a weighted question is asked out of formality.

Because when he asks how are you?

some days,

I want to tell him,

I’m glad you asked, I’m not having a very good time.

And I know you’re not a therapist'

but the how are you’s in my life are mostly rhetorical

mostly, people don’t care about "how you are!".

They want to know you’re doing well enough to continue their days without any inconvenience

So I’ve been practicing my I’m alrights to sound convincing enough

We do so well with pretending we’re alright,

we hold back a mountain of problems with thread waiting for the right person to allow us room to let go.

I’ve realized everyone doesn’t always need advice,

Some people just need to know they are heard

So, I’m listening a lot more than I talk

I ask questions more often than I give answers.

And I try to be honest when people ask 'how am I doing?'

Because sometimes that question in the right tone with a nice smile is all that’s needed to remind me,

I’ll be alright.