In my 9th and 10th grade, my teacher always told my class she didn't like hearing "sorry" when people did something on purpose. Didn't do homework? Don't say sorry. Said something inappropriate? Don't say sorry. While she may not have been everyone's favourite, her morals were surely insightful. And as I grew up between my high school and university, I learnt a lot of things from the meaning of the word sorry to regret and making amends. In this article, I will be sharing with you what I have learnt and hope that you get to learn something and make your life enriching.
- Ever found yourself in a situation where you did something so majorly wrong where you knew if you said "sorry" you might get a tight slap instead of forgiveness? It could be like cheating with your best friend's significant other. It could be lying to your friends for your selfish motives. Just anything where you purposely did something for yourself with no regards to others involved. In such situation, perhaps silence is the best response knowing that you were wrong and a simple small word like sorry can't solve anything. You can only hope for your friend(s)'(s) anger to settle down to help you move on from that guilt.
- Sometimes people say "sorry" as a ticket to get out of what I call 'guilt-jail'. They did something wrong. They say sorry. Did you notice something? I didn't use quotes or italics this time around the s-word. How do you feel about that particular sorry? Meaningless? Weightless? Insightful-less? That's how some people say sorry. Out of formality. There is no point of saying sorry if you are saying for the sake of it. If you truly empathize or sympathize with the person you hurt, show it with your feelings. Understand what that person could be going through right now especially when they are facing you. Try to understand what they could find true relief in. And then say it: "I am sorry that I made you go through this."
- A 'sorry' is not just a simple word. It means something. It means that you are ready to accept your mistake. It means that you did not wish to hurt somebody. But most importantly, it shows that you care. You are not one of those people who would rather simply walk away because the world has been harsh to them. It means you got courage and vision to acknowledge what's right and what's wrong. It means who you are as a person. Do you apologize for every single thing whether it's your fault or not? Do you stick with your stand even when it's plain obvious that you are losing relations, you are getting yelled by considerate number of people and most importantly your viewpoint is not really related to situation at all? When and how you say 'sorry' matters.
- Sometimes saying sorry cannot be pleasant. What I mean to say, if you keep 'sorry' repeatedly, it appears that you are someone who makes mistakes constantly and that annoys people. It can also mean if you say 'sorry' in a situation where you made a mistake, sometimes an alternative can be preferred. For example, you are late. You can say, "I apologise for being late. Didn't expect the traffic. I will try to leave for work early." Said something? Say, "Oh no, I shouldn't have said that. I am really sorry about that." It's ok to say sorry after you have explained the cause or the effect. Explaining the effect or cause can give more meaning to your favourite 5-letter s-word.
Thank you for reading my article. I really hope that you gained something insightful from it :)
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It's ok :)
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