Many people in their lifetime will feel bound by the constraints they’ve placed on themselves. Feeling lonely or depressed is something everyone I have ever met can relate to. During these moments, many will isolate themselves instead of reaching out for help, fearful of being labeled as having mental health issues.
The downfall of humanity is evident when we look down on someone for reaching out for help or being in a low spot in their life. Mental health issues are at an all-time high, with fewer people seeking the relief they need. Afraid of reaching out to a friend and saying, “Hey, I feel sad, angry, or just not right,” many will sink even further into despair, unable to release the chains that bind them.
Instead, we see an epidemic of self-medication, suicide, and the destruction of families. One begins to wonder where humanity went wrong. When did we forget that one act of kindness can change someone’s whole day? When did we start responding to “How are you?” with “I’m fine” as a default?
I have always told my friends to be honest with me. If your day is not good, say so. I ask how you are because I care! Yet when I ask if someone is okay, they often respond with, “I’m good, and you?” It is not okay with me if your heart is hurting, if you are angry, or if you need help. I want you to tell me your needs, and I want to share mine with you. I want to live in a kinder, more loving world.
One day, I was in line at a store, and a woman at the register was causing a big fuss, not being very kind. I heard the woman behind me tell her friend, “Oh look, we have a Karen.” Instant infuriation grew in my heart, and my eyes snapped back with disapproval. I made the choice in that moment to extend my hand to the lady checking out and touch her shoulder. I softened my face and asked, “Are you okay? Is there anything I can do?”
With that one act of kindness instead of calling her a Karen, the lady’s face softened. She looked over her shoulder at me, and tears began to flow. The girl running the register looked so confused when I hugged the lady and said, “If there is anything I can do.”
This “Karen” had just lost her child two days prior and was in the store buying funeral clothes for her baby. Her heart was broken, and she was confined by life’s way of making you pretend you are okay, using the wrong emotions to mask sorrow.
It is with honesty and not judging people for having emotions that the correct emotions can come forward and begin to heal. All of us have used anger or withdrawal to mask sorrow. Well, I am here to tell you that sorrow is not shameful, and we should all feel free to express our true emotions.
Bottling up or masking emotions causes such damage to a human soul. Please stop and be kind to one another. Take time to see if someone is okay, instead of just assuming they are a “Karen.” Oh, how I despise that word “Karen”! People don’t want to be miserable. It is so simple to change someone’s emotion by showing kindness and asking if you can help.
Let each one of you reading this strive to be kinder. Extend a hand when needed and accept that hand when we need it.
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