Is It OK to Say OK?

While doing a bit of research for an earlier post, I learned that the most common word used in the English language (how do they figure this stuff out? It boggles the mind...) is "OK".

Which at first pass, seems, well, OK, right? As in, things are OK. Not too tight, not too loose as my friend and podcast co-host Meridith Grundei likes to say. The word expresses that nothing's happening in our lives that's too extreme. Nothing too far to the negative, and not too far to the positive.

Smack dab in the middle. And that's OK, right?

Maybe.

For me, it feels too neutral. Too "nice". (Once my beloved mother-in-law Rebeca described me as "nice". "No" I pleaded. "anything but nice." I think she has since started calling me "irreverent":)

"OK" feels too safe. Are the majority of us simply OK?

Quick story: a few years ago I decided to try an experiment. Whenever someone asked me how I was doing, I would answer "excellent" or "excelente". (This experiment was inspired by our beloved contractor Lorenzo who always answers ¡Maravilloso! when asked how he's feeling. Marvelous!)

And you know what happened? 99.3% of the time, I felt excellent. My life and my world has become excellent. Not always, truth be told, but most of the time. And when I look at how answering "excellent" has changed my life, I reflect on what I might've created if I answered in other ways: How am I? I'm tired, I'm busy, I'm broke... I'm OK.

Answering "OK" seems, well, a wee bit mundane. OK is almost a cop out, allowing us to be OK with being average, which is really not OK, right?

So the question for you, my dear reader, is are you excellent, or are you OK?

And, even if you just feel OK, see how it feels to say Fabulous, Wonderful, Living The Life even if you don't quite feel it at the moment.

Maybe, just maybe, it might start a little spark within you that later lights a flame, which alter lights your soul on fire!

Cheers!

All my love,

Joseph