Normalizing the Truth: Stop Saying, “I’m Okay”, When You Know You Aren't

There comes a point in life when pretending becomes too heavy to carry. When the smile you’ve trained your face to hold starts trembling. When the weight of your own expectations, other people’s expectations, and the silent storms happening inside of you all collide. And suddenly, the truth breaks through the surface:

“I’m not okay.”

For far too long, many of us have been conditioned to hide that truth. To downplay it. To swallow it whole until it settles into our bones like cement. We’ve been taught that strength looks like silence, composure, and the refusal to fall apart. We’ve been applauded for our resilience, our tolerance, our capacity to endure… even when endurance has been slowly dismantling us from the inside out.

But what if strength is actually the opposite of what we’ve been performing?

What if strength is honesty?

What if strength is being able to say, without shame or hesitation, “I’m not okay,” and allowing that truth to breathe?

Because the truth is, many of us are not okay. We’ve been fighting silent battles, tending to emotional wounds we never had time to heal, managing trauma responses that have become our default settings. But instead of acknowledging the ache, we’ve normalized survival so deeply that we’ve forgotten that survival is not the goal, healing is.

Healing requires honesty.

Honesty requires courage.

Courage requires permission.

So here is your permission:

You are allowed to say you’re not okay.

You are allowed to pause.

You are allowed to rest.

You are allowed to acknowledge the places that still hurt without apologizing for them.

You are allowed to feel what you feel without masking it to make others comfortable.

Normalizing the truth doesn’t make you weak. It makes you whole.

It makes you human.

It makes you available for healing.

And the beautiful thing about truth is that once it is spoken, it loses its power to isolate you. You begin to realize that you’re not the only one unraveling in private. You’re not the only one exhausted by pain, boundaries, betrayal, or the heaviness of your own past. You’re not the only one waking up every day trying to hold yourself together with prayers, deep breaths, and silent strength.

You’re not alone.

And you don’t have to pretend anymore.

Scripture tells us:

“They triumphed over him by the blood of the Lamb and by the word of their testimony; they did not love their lives so much as to shrink from death.”

Revelation 12:11

I take this to mean that yes, we gain access to salvation and triumph through the blood of the Lamb; those are the keys. But to truly walk as an overcomer, to truly embody triumph, it takes truth. The word of our testimony. The courage to speak about what we survived. The willingness to acknowledge what still aches. The boldness to admit, “I’m not okay,” because testimony doesn’t come from pretending… it comes from truth.

And here is another truth we often overlook:

Yes, life and death are in the tongue…

But we become what we think.

Our thoughts shape our internal reality long before our words ever leave our mouths. If our thoughts are rooted in fear, shame, silence, or pretending, our lives will follow that path. But when our thoughts shift toward truth—raw, honest, unfiltered truth—our healing begins from the inside out.

If today all you can manage is this simple confession...

“I’m not okay”, then let that be enough.

Let that be your truth.

Let that be the beginning of your healing.

Because God meets you in honesty.

He meets you in truth.

He meets you right where you are, not where you pretend to be.

And sometimes the most powerful prayer you can pray is the one that sounds like surrender, the one that sounds like breaking, the one that sounds like truth:

“Lord, I’m not okay… but I trust that You can handle what I can’t.”

Normalize the truth.

Normalize your humanity.

Normalize the courage it takes to be honest about your pain.

Healing begins there.

Call to Action

If this message spoke to you, don’t let it stop here.

Share your truth.

Tell someone you trust how you’re really feeling.

Write it down.

Pray it out.

Speak it aloud.

Give language to the places you’ve been hiding.

And if you’re on a healing journey, or ready to start one, I invite you to:

Leave a comment or message saying, “I’m choosing truth today.”

Share this blog with someone who needs permission to stop pretending.

Join me on this journey of honesty, healing, and becoming whole.

You don’t have to heal in silence.

You don’t have to heal alone.

Let today be the day you choose truth over pretending…

healing over hiding…

and courage over silence.

I’m standing with you. I’m praying with you.

And I believe healing is your portion.