How are you?

Simple enough question, but do we really hear the answer when we greet people with that query?

A work acquaintance brought me up short with his answer recently. And then I smiled as I considered his reply.

"I am blessed," he had said matter-of-factly. A couple of beats later, and with a big grin, I told him, "So am I!"

When I asked him further about his response to that question we so routinely ask and answer without thought, he said someone had recently told him "I am grateful" when he had asked how she was. The unexpected answer prompted him to give a more considered response when people greeted him with that almost-unheard question.

How nice it would be if we could all acknowledge our blessings so freely. After all, if we are as "well" as most of us tend to say in response to the standard "How are you?" greeting, we truly are blessed.