The average person tells 4 lies a day, that's 1,460 per year, for a total of 87,600 by the age of 60. We all, at one time or another have told this little lie. There are multitude of reasons you say you are fine when you aren't. There may be rules of confidentiality that restrict conversation, there may be reasons you don't let your guard down to certain people, there may be time constraints or you don't want that level of intimacy with the person asking how you are...maybe your barista asked and at the risk of getting horrible latte's th
e rest of your life you say you are doing well when you aren't.
However, there is a monumental problem with saying you are 'fine' when you are not. What is that you ask? Simply this: when you say, out loud, that you are fine and you are not, you are really trying to convince yourself you are. It is well known that some women and men who experience child sexual abuse never tell, never speak the words of the abuse out loud. The reason for this is that if they never say the words out loud they can pretend it never happened.....so saying "I'm fine" is really the opposite dynamic going on.
The bottom line is, we all have moments, days even, where we are not fine by any definition. Struggling, sadness, loss, helplessness, aggravation are all part of the human condition. You have permission to not be ok, to not be fine. So next time someone asks you how you are, and you don't feel so fine, find other words to respond with, words that will not betray your heart and soul, words that will be true to your feelings. The more you are genuine and honest about how you really feel, the more you will experience joy and peace.