Have you ever done something or said something, or even just texted something and then just sat there for a while and thought about it and then realized that it just really sucked? If you have, you're a member of the human race, and if you haven't- you're either Jesus, or you're a liar. It's impossible to go through life without doing anything wrong, and if you're anything like me, it's almost impossible to make it through more than a couple of hours without having to turn around and admit you were wrong or apologize. Swallowing your pride sucks; it's hard, and usually humbling and embarrassing, but regardless of how challenging it is, it has taught me something that I think is important for everyone to know.
When you're wrong, the best thing you can do not only for others, but yourself, is to just say so.
This probably doesn't seem very important, but for me, it has been one of the biggest lessons I have ever had to learn. The art of apologizing is not an easy one, nor is it very much fun. It's humbling, it's embarrassing, and it is often disappointing. Most people don't realize that there will probably come a time in their lives when they apologize to someone and they aren't forgiven. It's a bitter pill to swallow when you look someone in the eye to admit that you were wrong and they no longer care. Not only that, but you are forced to realize that you at one time hurt someone to the point that they don't feel as though you deserve an "I forgive you" or an "It's okay, I'm fine." Being wrong is one thing, but contrary to popular belief, "I'm sorry" doesn't just erase whatever it is that you've done. It's the only attempt to make things right, but often, it is unsuccessful.
So now what? You've acted, regretted, admitted, apologized, and recoiled with disappointment. At one time, my instinctive reaction to hearing that my apology was not good enough would have been to fight back. I would have thought, "Well maybe what I did wasn't even that bad and they are just being petty." That's not true. In reality, I was still wrong and I still needed to admit that. Forgiven or not, after an apology, all you can really do is take a good look at yourself and see that you have become someone that you don't really think you want to be anymore. Yet another awful feeling, the realization that changes have to be made really sucks. However, just thinking about it does absolutely nothing. The worst thing that can be done is to think about being better for a while, but then turning around and treating people in the exact same way. After doing that, there eventually comes a realization that maybe not treating people very well hasn't just hurt those other people: it eventually comes back to hurt you too, and that maybe it's time to do the work to alter the way you act towards others and towards yourself.
We all make mistakes. We do it easily, and we do it often. In a world with almost 7 billion people, mistakes take up just as much of it as we do. It's literally the most normal thing in the world to make a mistake, or to forget to use your filter and say something that you don't mean, or to get angry and do something that you shouldn't have done, but please, just remember:
When you're wrong, say so.
