On Apologizing

Why do we always find it so difficult to apologize? What is so difficult about saying the two words – “I’m sorry”? Why do we find it easier to apologize to our close friends, even if we hesitate a bit, but cannot bring ourselves to apologize to our partners/spouses? Why is it that people would rather tuck small arguments in the back of their minds, instead of talking about them immediately so both parties could say they’re sorry, and move on? Of course, I’m not saying that we should just blindly apologize when faced with a situation. I just think it should be done as soon as possible. Remember when we were little; we used to have those fights with our siblings? When my parents caught us fighting, they will always force us to say sorry and shake hands with each other. Short and sweet, no grudges held. In 5 minutes we were back to playing our childish games. However, as we get older, we build a thick wall of pride around us. So thick is the wall that we think it will kill us if we make any attempts to apologize. We wait and we wait…and the time arrives when we realize that we should apologize, to get things moving again. And we will apologize without knowing anymore what we’re apologizing for. We throw the cheap apology. We say we’re sorry, but sorry for what? Some simple rules on apologizing:

- know what you’re apologizing for
- understand the other party’s feelings and issues
- do not make excuses for your behaviour

more info can be found on the net by Googling “art of apologizing”.