There’s no definite proof that sharing everything that you think or feel always helps. However, it can be beneficial to share as many feelings as you feel comfortable with to get some healing. However, it can be daunting working out how much to share at the right time. And depending on how deep you want to go, you may want to avoid phrases that would lead to a lot more questions.

I feel there a few ways of doing this but as I started to write them, I realised number one was enough for a post on its own. So what I am going to focus on in this post is:-

• Trying to avoid one word answers and/or adjectives such as fine, good when someone asks you how you are

Although, there are occasions where a quick response is easier, either in passing conversation or when you are not ready to talk about the situation with the person who asked. However, we all know that our life can often not be summed up by one word!

It can be easy to stick to your go-to phrases and very rarely go any deeper with anyone out of habit. So it can be healthy to spot when you’re doing this too often and practice to make your answers longer. It can be so much more freeing to not have to put up a front, inviting people in and have more honest conversations.

The reason why I thought this post would be longer because there is an opposite side to this, involving when you ask people the question yourself. It can be expected now that it can be a quick question with a quick response. However, it is an important question to ask people and you don’t know how many people have asked it already that day and someone could be waiting for someone else to show an interest and check in with them. So even if you do have to briefly ask someone in passing, consider if you can reach out to them another time soon and give them the chance to share.

Thank you for taking the time to read this and I hope you find it helpful. As always, feel free to get in touch with any questions/feedback/comments, I always love to hear them. Stay tuned for the next instalment.

Until next time

K