I do not like apologizing. Well, I guess I throw out a random “oops, sorry” daily when I run into someone or drop some inanimate object but when it comes to really being in the wrong and really being the bad guy, I hate saying sorry. As you might imagine, this has caused some issues in friendships and relationships and is generally an annoying quality in a person, which I completely recognize and understand, yet for some reason it’s still so hard for me to get over it.

In some of my classes recently, I have ironically learned about interpersonal communication and what it means to be a contributing member in a friendship or relationship. Without getting too deep or preachy here, why is it so hard to take the blame or say sorry? This is something I ask myself every time I have an argument where I know I’m wrong. It can’t purely be the fact that I’m just stubborn and love being right (although that would be a great guess), so it’s actually been very interesting to sit in class for two hours lately. As it turns out, taking the blame and focusing on what you can do better as a contributor in a relationship is the most difficult part of all. This doesn’t seem too hard to grasp, yet it’s the hardest thing I think for most people to understand.

I think if we all were more dedicated to focusing on what we could do better as individuals instead of placing the blame elsewhere, so many other problems could be alleviated. Part of getting older, I’ve realized, is learning compromise even when it pains you to your core like it does for me most of the time. The main thing to keep in mind is that being wrong is much less important than maintaining a healthy friendship or relationship. I challenge you to be the first to say sorry next time you and your best friend or mom or boyfriend or anyone have an argument or disagreement and see how much better it makes you feel afterward.