Growing up, we were taught three very important phrases: "Please and thank you," "Yes/no ma'am/sir," and "I'm sorry." And while these phrases are very important, our generation has started to use one phrase, in particular, a little too much in our daily vocabulary - I'm sorry.
We apologize way too often these days. We accidentally bump into someone on the way to class - "Oh, I'm sorry." We ate the last cookie - "My bad, sorry." We get emotional during a powerful speech or group discussion - "I'm so sorry." Do we even mean it when we say "sorry" anymore? Or has it just become another meaningless part of the English language? Why do we feel so inclined to apologize for every little thing we do that doesn't seem to be acceptable in society?
Why should I be apologizing to this stranger who I bumped shoulders with going through the dining halls? It was equally their fault that we ran into each other. I shouldn't be the one apologizing, and quite frankly neither one of us needs to apologize at all. Why should I apologize for eating the last cookie, or taking the last apple, or eating the last of the chips and queso? If it's up for grabs, don't apologize for taking up the opportunity to snag whatever food is out. Survival of the fittest, right? And why should I apologize for crying if something is powerful enough to make me cry? I'm only human - we all are. We all have emotions. We shouldn't be sorry for expressing how we're feeling. If we're upset, we have every right to show it, and we shouldn't be ashamed of it.
Here's the thing: we apologize because we feel as though we're not enough, and we're ashamed of that. And to make up for that we apologize. Whenever any tiny thing goes wrong, we have this urge to say that we're sorry because we feel as though it's not up to everyone else's standards or expectations. But why should that matter? Why should it matter what other people think of us? It shouldn't. The only standards we should be living up to are our own.
If I start talking about something that I'm so passionate about that it brings me to tears, heck, I'll embrace the tears. I won't stand before you and apologize for that. If I take the last cookie on the plate, I'm just going to stand there and eat it and compliment the person who made them. And if I run into someone walking to class, I'll say "excuse me" and that's all because I don't need to apologize for being human.
We need to stop saying we're sorry for every little thing that doesn't run smoothly and without flaw in our lives. We were taught to apologize when we've done something wrong or when we've physically or mentally hurt someone else. So since when has being a human being fallen under any of those categories? Stop apologizing for not being perfect and just focus on being who you are and know that who you are is enough.
