It’s OK to not be OK.
I posted this phrase on my Instagram profile last week. It wasn’t the first time I saw it and it wasn’t the first time I posted it on social media. Or said it to someone who needed to hear it. But I felt it was just right for the time – once again.
In the wake of the tragic death of Kobe Bryant and his beautiful daughter GiGi, many people wondered why they felt such grief and heartbreak over people they didn’t know. And I’m here to tell you – despite what others may say or think, it’s OK to feel what you feel – period!
It’s OK…
If you feel sadness or grief over the loss of people you don’t know. If you don’t react to situations the same way other people think you should. If your show of strength doesn’t match that of the other “strong” people in your midst. If your modus operandi is to whine and have a pity party before you get up and dust yourself off to march on. If you choose to go inward for self-reflection after a broken relationship instead of starting the next new one. If you constantly hear, “why can’t you be more like [fill in the blank of that person you’re compared to] and handle it their way?” If you’re being told it is selfish to acknowledge how you feel first even though you know deep down inside that it’s okay to put yourself first.
There’s nothing in the book of life that says you always have to be strong. Or that you can’t ask for help without judgment or pause or desire someone to be there and simply say “I got you!” And they really do…
So, for whomever needs to hear this…go ahead and cry, kick and scream or just sit in the silence of your deep thoughts. It’s OK to not be OK.