I'm Great!

"I'm great!" is the typical response I give to the question "How are you?" and it always seems to confuse some people. When I gave this response recently to a client that I don't know very well, she stopped dead in her tracks and then asked me how I can always answer that way. Life ISN'T always great she said to me.

The truth is that she's right. Life isn't always great. In fact, sometimes life just plain sucks. But I have a belief that says that most people don't want to hear about the crap in my life. And truthfully, I don't want to hear about the bad stuff in most people's lives. That's not to say that I live in a fantasy world where everything is always peachy and I expect everyone I come in contact with to live in that same world. I don't. I live in the real world where we all have difficulties.

I have confidants with whom I share the all of life's ups and downs and they share their entire lives with me. And I am beyond grateful to have those people in my life. They are my touchstones. They are the ones I know I can call at 3:00 in the morning when life is falling apart. And they can call me then too.

I also believe that I have a choice in how I live my life each day. I can look for the beauty in everyday and be grateful for it or I can focus on all the stuff that goes wrong and the tragedies that surround us. I choose to find the beauty and the everyday miracles. And that makes my life great, even in the face of overwhelming evidence to the contrary.