I had a meeting with my coach and he asked me how I was doing. I responded that I was okay. The look on my face and my demeanor told a different story. I was NOT okay. Not okay at all.

For over four years I have been coping, fighting, and struggling through my husband’s health issues. There were points in time that I felt he wouldn’t make it another day. Some nights I didn’t sleep at all. Either he would keep me up with his sickness or I would be up checking to see if he was still breathing.

Crazy, huh?

The entire time I was going through all of this I worked just as hard, I loved even harder, I helped everyone as much as I could. I went about my life as if things were okay.

That day though, he said you are not okay Tameka. He asked me why I said that I was. He asked me if I typically lied to my friends and family. That was a gut punch.

I told him that I respond that way because I don’t want to burden people with my problems.

He advised that I respond with “I am hopeful”. Hopeful is a truthful summation of how I feel and clearly expresses that I am not doing okay or great, but that I have not given up.

Hopeful. That is how I feel every day. Hopeful that my husband’s health will improve, hopeful that he will have a good day, hopeful that the future will be bright, hopeful that I have the strength to go on even when things are not okay.

So how are you?