I'm fine (but not really)

I'm fine
People say I'm fine all the time. It's probably the single most common answer to how are you, to are you alright, to what's wrong.
I'm fine.
I say it too. And sometimes, rarely, I'm not lying.
Sometimes I really am fine, but is fine really that great in the end.
Why not I'm good, I'm happy, I'm freaking awesome.
Fine, not so bad but not that dandy either.
Even when people are truly just fine, its not enough. Because fine is not living, fine is surviving. Just coasting through.
But most times, I'm fine is choked out past a lump in your throat. Thrown over a shoulder as you turn away, so no one can see you cry.
I have lied before. I have lied about big things.I have told little white lies that don't hurt anyone. I have lied by evading the truth and by just staying silent. But the most common, the most often told lie?
I'm Fine.
Because if there wasn't a problem I would use a different word, any other phrase. Because usually I'm fine means the perfect opposite.
So next time you here I'm fine.
Take it as an invitation to ask,
No, Really?