Why It’s Okay to Not Be Okay

It’s impossible to be okay for every minute of every day. It’s completely possible, however, to pretend that you are.

So much of our lives are spent trying to put on a pretty face that includes not only the right mascara, but the right attitude as well. And while it’s easy to understand telling a couple white lies here and there in an effort to not make a scene, it’s dangerously unhealthy to continue to do this, day in and day out. Allowing everything to build up inside of us doesn’t allow the space and the breathing room our brains need to properly function.

It’s completely okay to not be okay. It’s okay to cry and scream and call in sick to work for no reason other than you’re not okay. As a society, we often don’t categorize anything without physical symptoms as an illness. Waking up and feeling the weight of every assignment, shift and paper that you have to complete in the coming week can be nothing short of paralyzing at times, and repressing this further and further just makes it worse each time it happens.

We make it through the negatives with the memories and the love of the positives. There are bonds that are created when we talk to people in our times of need, in our lows, that make the highs that much better. We live and we learn to accept not only our mistakes, but the ones of those around us, and the compassion and love we show them should be equivalent to the kindness we show ourselves.

Acknowledging and accepting (i.e.: allowing yourself to just have a chill day in) the fact that you’re not okay allows you to appreciate your “okay” times that much more. You live your life brighter and happier coming out of the lower points, much like the sun seems brighter coming out of a dark room. Smell the flowers, cry the tears and live your best life.

Lastly, remember that this too shall pass. Use it to help you through. Not being okay is just as much a part of life as anything else, and while it’s completely okay (and encouraged), it can’t be permanent. It’s temporary, and it shall pass. Take a minute or an hour or a day or a week, and let yourself not be okay. And come back stronger than ever.