WHY IS IT SO HARD TO SAY THE TWO WORDS WE SO DESPERATELY WANT TO HEAR? MANY TIMES WE USE THE WORDS “I’M SORRY” TO GUILT OTHERS OR WE WITHHOLD THE APOLOGY TO HURT OTHERS. WHETHER WE ADMIT IT OR NOT, WE SOMETIMES TAKE THE GIFT OF AN APOLOGY, GIVEN OR RECEIVED, AS YOUR OPPORTUNITY TO WIN? UNFORTUNATELY, IF THE WORD “BUT” IS ANYWHERE NEAR THE WORDS “I’M SORRY”, YOU AREN’T APOLOGIZING, YOU’RE TRYING TO BE RIGHT. LIKE MANY OF US OUR PERCEPTION OF THE SITUATION IS CLOUDED BY THE HURT AND THAT CLOUDINESS MAKES IT DIFFICULT FOR US TO ACKNOWLEDGE AND ACCEPT THE PART WE PLAYED IN THE SITUATION. ULTIMATELY, THE MOST IMPORTANT WAY WE TEACH OUR CHILDREN ABOUT MAKING AMENDS IS MODELING IT OURSELVES. APOLOGIZING AND MAKING AMENDS WHEN WE MAKE A MISTAKE IS THE ULTIMATE PART OF HAVING AND KEEPING RELATIONSHIPS. SAYING I’M SORRY DOESN’T ALWAYS MEAN YOU’RE RIGHT OR WRONG; IT JUST MEANS YOU VALUE YOUR RELATIONSHIP MORE THAN YOUR EGO! THE BEAUTIFUL THING ABOUT APOLOGIES; IF THEY ARE SINCERE, YOU REALLY ONLY NEED TWO WORDS!
THAT’S REAL TALK
Source: The Church Lady
Photo: The Church Lady
