How are you?

In your lifetime you’re probably going to be asked this a few thousand times. Or at least it seems like you are. The problem is, when a question becomes so common it tends to carry less meaning. We answer, “Fine” without thinking, an automatic response much like saying “Hello.”

But are you fine? Really?

All too often we’re busy. Stressed. There’s just too much going on in the day and we’re already short on time. We’re not as fine as we like to pretend we are. If we’re honest, we’re probably not spending as much time on ourselves as we ought to. In short, we’re neglecting self-care.

If you think self-care isn’t a big deal, then consider these statistics taken from various studies:

• 75% of people are chronically dehydrated
• 30% of Americans are overweight
• 70% of people feel like they don’t get enough sleep at least once a month (11% having trouble sleeping on a regular basis)
• 75% of Americans are tired before they even show up to work.
• 17% of Americans are anxious
• 7% are depressed

If you just winced from reading this list, you’re not alone. No, we are not fine, and it’s time we did something about it.