How Are You, Really?

Kristi and I had some neat interaction at the B&B with a lady from Spain.   We sat in the gazebo talking about, among other things, the English language.  In learning to speak English, she noted that one of the things she had to figure out was our standard greeting, "How are you?"   She shared that at first it was a little awkward because she wasn’t sure if she should really answer the question or just pick from the list of standard answers, like “fine.”

Wouldn’t it be neat if when you were asked, “How are you?”….that people are genuinely interested in how you are, really?   Asking it of others in that tone and then listening with intentionality could be a special gift.