"Why are you apologizing? It's not your fault."
"You say sorry too much."
"If you say you're sorry again..." "Got it. Sorry."

I apologize a lot. It's in my nature, I guess because I find myself saying sorry for things that aren't my fault, for things that are out of my control, for things that I'm not even directly involved in. Just last week I found myself saying sorry to a fellow student when he nearly hit me with his bike.

Recent articles have published suggestions to help people like me stop saying sorry. In social situations, we are told to replace our apologies with "thank yous" as in, instead of saying "I'm sorry I'm late," tell others, "Thank you for your patience."

While this seems like a good way to avoid repeating the same phrase over and over again, I can't bring myself to do it. Because, frankly, I'm not sorry for being sorry.

I am who I am. My personality just so happens to be apologetic in nature. I feel bad for others, and I want to empathize with them, so when I tell you I am sorry, it's not in a dismissive or sarcastic way. I'm genuinely trying to identify with you. I want you to know how sorry I am that you're having a bad day, or that you failed your last exam.

If you think that my apologies are hollow or less meaningful because I say sorry more often than those around me, then you are surely mistaken. Each apology I utter is genuine and relevant to the situation, person, and content I'm dealing with.

I will not change my ways. If I am sorry, then I'm sorry. But I will not be sorry for being sorry. What I feel is valid, and if how I express my feelings doesn't harm you, specifically when this expression is formatted in an apology, then why should it matter?

So the next time someone tells me that I need to stop saying sorry because it makes me appear weak, insincere, or lacking in self confidence, then I'm going to tell them that I am sorry that they feel that way. I'm sorry that their minds have been conditioned to not believe apologies, that they have become wary of those who do apologize, of those who try to empathize and sympathize.

Being empathetic doesn't make people weak. It makes them human. It makes them approachable. And just because it might make them apologize often, it doesn't make them bad people.