You do something wrong. You apologize. Life goes on. Simple! Right? WRONG! For some folks this apparently straightforward process is horribly complicated.

 

Have you heard those song lyrics that go “Sorry seems to be the hardest word.”? Well, for some people, it really seems to be true. They would rather die than choke them out. Correction – they would rather be unhappy than to utter the two magic words that could change their lives for the better.

 

Men in particular often seem to have ego issues around saying sorry. They are perfectly prepared to “do” sorry – to make peace making efforts in an attempt to smooth things over. But the words themselves will never pass their lips.

 

To make matters worse, many women want to hear the words and don’t perceive the peacemaking efforts as valid ways of apologizing. They refuse to accept an apology that doesn’t include the words “I’m sorry.”

 

Here’s something to think about:

 

Scenario One: Someone does you wrong. They apologize profusely. “I’m sorry, I’m sorry, I’m sorry!” they say. They then do the same wrong thing all over again.

 

Scenario Two: Someone does you wrong. They don’t say sorry but they bend over backwards to be helpful and never make the same mistake again.

 

Which of the two is the more sincere? In an ideal world, they would say sorry AND they would never do it again. But if you had to choose, which scenario would you pick?

 

Next time you find yourself in a situation of conflict, be mindful of the other person’s attempt to patch things up. Women – look more carefully for male peacemaking efforts and try to be less stiff necked about accepting them. Men – try to get your tongues around the magic words “I’m sorry.”

 

Remember, you don’t always have to apologize for what you said, but it never hurts to apologize for how you said it.

 

Would you rather be “right” or would you rather be happy…..?