It’s OK to not be OK

‘This is it!’ he said as he looked at the email message titled ‘URGENT‘ on his phone. His brow furrowed in the middle, just where the wrinkle has deepened and become a permanent feature. He took off his rimless glasses and placed them gently on the coffee table, and placed his index finger and thumb on his nose bridge. He took a moment and a sigh.

Then leaning towards me on the other side, he caught my worried glance and said, ‘It’s OK, you know the usual.’ You could sense how the scathing emotions had been extinguished.

I got up to sit right next to him. I could hear his anxiety in his quickened breath. Then taking his hand in mine, I said, ‘It’s not OK. And let’s accept that while we find out how we can get on that side of OK.’ I looked him in the eyes, ‘It’s OK to not be OK,’ I said. The awkward moment found its place, and was happy to be acknowledged.

Alka Sharma

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