Say Sorry

Sorry.

As children we are taught to say sorry. We usually didn't mean it, but our mothers would not leave us alone till we did. So, we placate them. We did as we were told and kept going on, without ever having any sincerity in our words. They did this to us to instill a lesson in us. They taught us well.

We say it all the time. But what does it really mean? Does it really make anything better?
We say sorry and then we do it anyways .We say sorry and we don't change.

So does that sorry mean anything?
When does sorry help? When is it insulting? When does simply saying sorry make everything better and when is it completely useless?

Comments

  1. Ish YehudiJune 30, 2011 at 2:45 AM

    I learned (from Randy Pausch) that a real apology has three parts to it:

    1) "I'm sorry" (acknowledge and admit to the wrong)
    2) "It was my fault" (take responsibility)
    3) "What can I do to make it better (make amends)

    As it turns out, this works wonders for me, and I use it all the time. It works for the little things and the big things, when it is sincere.

    ReplyDelete
  2. DevorahJuly 6, 2011 at 8:41 PM

    I agree. Sorry helps when you really mean it and you are going to do something about it to make sure it doesn't happen again and you make the other party feel better.

    On the other hand, sometimes it just has to be said - even if what you did isn't wrong but the other person feels slighted, or if there is your own side to the story that the other person wont listen to or accept.

    It's tough.
    Reminds me of this aish.com video. Good one!

    ReplyDelete
  3. aminspirationJuly 6, 2011 at 9:55 PM

    Ish Yehudi- that is good advice!

    Devorah-its true, sometimes we say to make the other party feel better and sometimes we say it to make ourselves feel better.

    ReplyDelete

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