You may not believe this post and that’s okay. But I am going to put it out here and document it all the same. It may have just been a coincidence and if so, this is going to sound crazy. I mean, I have been writing my little blog for 14 years. It hasn’t really grown that much so I can’t say with a 100% certainty that this claim is true. But here is my side of the story nonetheless.

In 2006, I taught a Sunday School class in church. One particular Sunday, we were discussing charity. I drew a circle on the board and called it the service circle. We discussed how there are some people that only want to serve and never allow themselves to be served. I erased a section of the circle and said when we do that, we break the circle that has been established and set up for all of us. Because not all of us are okay all the time and that’s okay because the system has been set up to help all of us. Each of us.

It’s okay to not be okay all the time.

I said it. I felt inspired as the words poured out of my mouth. I hadn’t thought of the saying until it came out. I felt it was an important statement though and I started saying it when the occasion presented itself. During other lessons. That kind of thing.

In 2013, I was 2 years into writing my blog. I had started dabbling in making memes. I figured they could be little advertisements for my blog. At one point, I was so ambitious that I made a meme a week. If you check out my SIGNS category, you will find over 400 memes in there.

Not all are great. Some aren’t even good. But I enjoyed the practice. In the early days, I didn’t include any searchable text with my graphic. I just sent it out without a way to search for it.

On January 24, 2014, I decided to use that saying from the Sunday School lesson so many years before. It’s a very simple design and I only got 4 likes on my blog. Which, at that time, was a lot for me.

Ok

Since my memes were part of my ‘advertising’ technique, I also posted just the graphic on my blog’s Facebook page. I usually would wait until I had a small stock of them and post them all at once. This one was posted May 23, 2014 on my ck’s days Facebook page.

https://www.facebook.com/share/1LHXGy5kCW/

About a year later, I was scrolling mindlessly and I stumbled upon my saying. It was in a new meme (a better one with a fancy picture) but the words were the same as mine.

I shook it off. But thought, could it be someone actually saw my meme and used it or did someone else have the same thought as me? I figured I would never know and I never told anyone.

I started including the text on my memes in the tag line.

I’ve heard the saying a lot now. Including at work last year during Mental Health Awareness month. There was a poster and lanyards with the saying. I knew I’d sound crazy if I tried to say anything. I’d get a “sure you did” in a patronizing tone.

So, instead, I googled it to see where it came from:

AI Overview

The sentiment “it’s okay to not be okay” has been expressed by many people and is the title of a book by Sheila Walsh, but the specific quote is also attributed to Michael Clifford of 5 Seconds of Summer and was used by student writer Hayden Choate. The phrase serves as a common mental health affirmation, indicating that it’s valid to feel and express vulnerabilities rather than striving for constant perfection. 

Here are some people associated with the phrase:

• Sheila Walsh: An author and Bible teacher who published a book titled It’s Okay Not to Be Okay. 
• Michael Clifford: The guitarist for the band 5 Seconds of Summer, who has been credited with the specific quote “It’s okay not to be okay”. 
• Hayden Choate: A student writer who used the phrase “It’s okay to not be okay” in an article for The Springfield Student. 
• Kirsten Hill: A mental health advocate who said, “It’s ok to be fragile, it’s ok to be weak, it’s ok not to be ok”. 

The phrase gained popularity because it offers validation and encouragement for individuals to embrace their struggles and flaws instead of hiding them. 

The earliest I can find it showing up is 2016. So, it is quite possible, isn’t it that this little blog that doesn’t even average 10 readers could have started the social media saying?

If so, now you know the origin story. If not, why did you read this all the way to the end?