I'm a big apologizer. I say I'm sorry for all types of reasons. Maybe I genuinely mean that I'm sorry I caused some type of problem. Maybe I mean I'm sorry for the situation that you find yourself in that has nothing to do with me. Maybe I mean I'm sorry that something I did later caused an issue, even though it's not a big deal. It's not that hard to do. A simple "I'm sorry" suffices. But there are some people who have a hard time with this. It just doesn't even cross their mind to say "I'm sorry." Here are some examples:
1 - You say something that the other person interprets completely the wrong way. Have you really done anything wrong? No, the other person interpreted it wrong. But, rather than point out the other person's failure to understand, when they likely feel bad already, why not just say "I'm sorry, I didn't say that right - here's what I really meant."
2 - You place a full glass of water on the edge of the counter. Is that wrong? No, it's on the counter, which is where glasses of water belong. But then someone else knocks it off because it's so close to the edge and spills water all over the floor. Are you really sorry you placed it there? No, but why not just say "Oops, sorry about that"
3 - You knock into someone and hurt their arm. Did you intend to knock into them? No, of course not, it was an accident. But when the person says "Hey, watch it!" should you immediately defend yourself and say "I didn't do it on purpose!!" No, why not just say "Oh, I'm sorry."
I think people get this idea in their heads that apologizing means you are giving up your rights or some type of control or telling the other person that you are wrong, wrong wrong. Well, I think THAT'S wrong. I think saying "I'm sorry" is a nice and easy way to quell a situation, calm someone down, or just to say that you wish the situation isn't what it currently is.
So, let's all try to be the bigger person that throw out an apology now and then, ok?
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