R U OK?

It's RUOK? day today and I absolutely love the idea.

I help organise a birthing and babies group (Macedon Ranges BaBs) and we meet up every Monday. On the days when we have our formal topic sessions we go round the circle introducing ourselves and we ask everyone to answer the question "What's life like for you at the moment?" It's kinda like saying RUOK? every fortnight.

It is cool to see how people answer. Most of the newer attendees just say 'fine' or 'good' - the standard responses you give when someone says how are you? As they get more comfortable though you hear the truth, which is refreshing. Just this last Monday we could have spent the entire session just answering this one question.

We all fall into the trap of pretending everything is fine when sometimes life just sucks. We all think that, in order to be seen as coping, we need to hide how we are really feeling. What happens is everyone thinks that everyone else is stronger or happier or better than they are.

So today when someone asks R U OK? Be honest, you might be surprised by how good it feels!