Whenever you interact with people and are in some service – or when you are taking risks, making things happen, interacting with others, or in the public eye – you are bound to make mistakes. This is like if you are cycling the question is not ‘have you fallen’, the question is ‘when did you fall?’.At times you are going to use bad judgment, say something wrong, offend someone, criticize unnecessarily, be too demanding, be too lecturing, force your opinion, or act selfishly. The question isn’t whether you will make these mistakes – we all do. Ok let me put it this way, I do not know about you, I do! The question is, can you admit to them? If so, the question becomes, can you apologize?

Many people never apologize. The cannot apologize is my interpretation. They are either too self-conscious, self-righteous, stubborn, or arrogant to do so. The unwillingness to apologize is not just sad; it is a serious mistake as well.Apologizing is very relaxing and a HUGE destresser! We do carry the ‘tension’ of having hurt people. Almost everyone expects others to make mistakes and with a humble and sincere apology, almost everyone is willing to forgive. However, if you are a person who is either unable or unwilling to apologize, you will be branded a difficult person to work with. And over time, people will avoid you, speak behind your back, and do nothing to help you.

The ability to apologize, to admit mistakes, is a beautiful human quality that brings people closer together and helps us succeed. By simply acknowledging our humanness and saying “I am sorry” when appropriate, we bond with others and increase their trust in us. Obviously, you must never apologize as a tool of manipulation, to try to get a response like this or to get something out of it.

When you apologize from your heart, you keep most of your existing doors open. Occasionally, you may even open doors that had previously been closed.
Of course there are people who do not know how to accept apologies! They may just ignore your apology and continue to do what they want to do without even as much as acknowledging your apologies!

What do you do in such a case? Do not worry, you have done your bit — rest assured he/she will come back. And if you pre-decease them, they will be in utter misery for the rest of their lives – you have done your duty, right?