How Are You?

Think for a moment about how many times per day we greet or are greeted in person or on the phone with some version of "How are you?".  The most typical response, when we pause long enough to acknowledge, is "Fine".  I've forced myself to pause recently, when I ask some version of the question, to listen to the other person's answer, instead of continuing with an automatic response.  A different response such as, "Terrific, Awesome, or Having a Wonderful Day" instantly jolts me into interacting versus automatically responding.  Perhaps we should consciously greet others with a less expected question to elicit additional positive interaction.